B E A Z I L 



ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS 



BY 

0. C. MDEEWS 

EX-CONSUL-GENERAL TO BRAZIL, AND FORMERLY UNITED STATES MINISTER TO 
SWEDEN AND NORWAY 




D. 



NEW YORK 
APPLETON AND COMPANY 
1887 



Copyright, 1887, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



All rights reserved. 



PEEFATOEY. 



There have been so many political revolutions in 
some of the Sonth American states, accompanied by cruel 
acts of military despots, that I fear our busy people in 
the United States have acquired an unfavorable impres- 
sion of almost the whole of South America. It is desir- 
able, however, as satisfying the demands of a high order 
of intelligence, that they should have discriminating and 
correct views of the different races and countries on their 
own continent. Especially a country like Brazil, nearly 
as large in territory as the United States, peopled by de- 
scendants of the high-spirited and industrious Portuguese, 
and containing thirteen million inhabitants, is well worth 
knowing by Americans. Our young Americans in par- 
ticular ought to be encouraged to cultivate a better knowl- 
edge of such foreign countries, both in the interests of 
trade and of peace. For a people who can have great 
influence in maintaining peace there is scarcely any de- 
partment of knowledge that is more elevated. Richard 
Cobden wrote a book to disabuse the minds of his coun- 
trymen of their delusions and prejudices in regard to 



4 



PEEFATORY. 



Russia. Although I lack the ability of that most clear and 
eloquent writer, still I hope I may be able to present 
some facts in respect to the present situation of Brazil 
which will be both instructive and entertaining to general 
readers. My object is to answer such questions as an 
intelligent American would be likely to ask in regard to 
Brazil, 

My means of acquaintance with that empire are prin- 
cipally derived from a residence of three years at Rio de 
Janeiro, its capital, while employed in the service of the 
United States Government, during which period I made 
a few journeys into the interior. My consular office was 
situated in the busiest part of the great commercial city 
of Rio de Janeiro, and its duties brought me into frequent 
personal intercourse with the leading business houses and 
with many of the best-informed people of the country. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Prefatory . . . . . . . .3 

I, — Voyage to Brazil 7 

II. — Getting to Housekeeping ...... 14 

III. — Rio and its People 22*" 

IV. — Life and Manners 52 

V. — The Emperor of Brazil . 82 

VI. — Tijuca — Pedra Bonita 87 

VII. — Situation, Resources, and Climate . . . .93 

VIII. — American-Brazilian Relations 116' 

IX. — A Trip into the Interior 126 

X. — Visit to a Coffee-Plantation ..... 137 

XI. — Public Instruction . .171 

XII. — Local Administration 185 

XIII. — Parliamentary Government 194 

XIV. — Brazilian Literature 216 

XV.— Agriculture and Stock-raising 241 

XVI.— The Amazon Valley 262 

XVII.— Beasts of Prey 294 

XVIII.— Slavery and Emancipation . . . . . .308 

XIX.— The Religious Orders 330 / 

XX.— Public Lands and Immigration 341 



r 



BRAZIL: 

ITS OONDITIO]sr AKD PKOSPECTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

VOYAGE TO BEAZIL. 

At the time I left the United States for Brazil, in 
the summer of 1882, there was no regular line of passen- 
ger-steamers running between ISTew York and Rio de 
Janeiro. The old American line had ceased, and the 
present one had not commenced. The consequence was, 
that our voyage to Brazil was by the way of Europe, 
while the voyage home was from Rio to ISTew York on 
one of the new American steamers. I embarked with 
my wife and daughter on the North-German Lloyd's 
steamship Oder, and, after a pleasant passage, landed at 
Southampton, whence we went by steamer to Havre, and 
thence overland to Lisbon, stopping a few days at Paris, 
Madrid, and Lisbon. It was particularly interesting to 
visit Portugal before going to the empire which it had 
planted. "We had been so well pleased with the German 
steamer, that we took one of the same company's shijfl? 
for the passage from Lisbon to Rio, the Graf Bismarck, 
Captain Thallenhorst commanding, on which we em- 



8 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



barked out in the calm waters of the Tagus the lovely 
afternoon of August 5th. We made the voyage to Rio in 
twenty-one days, and were favored with pleasant weather 
and a comparatively smooth sea all the way. There 
were only three or four cabin - passengers besides our- 
selves, and we were favored with an abundance of room. 
The fourth day out we landed at one of the Canary Isl- 
ands, upon which there is very grand mountain scenery. 
We spent a short time in its capital city, Santa Cruz, 
where the steamer took upward of a hundred immigrant 
passengers bound for one of the Eiver Plate countries. 
August 22d, we landed and spent about half a day at 
Bahia, Brazil's capital in early colonial times, and now 
her second city. It h as a striking situation on red land> 
which rises abruptly a hundred feet or more above the 
water. A small park overlooking the sea, and filled with 
tall palms and large shade-trees, is one of the first objects 
that arrest attention in approaching the city from the 
north. As we proceeded down the Brazilian coast, a range 
of green mountains some distance inland could frequently 
be seen. From time to time, as we got a little nearer land, 
cultivated plantations were visible. Nearer the sea were 
low hills, with a strip of white sand always bordering 
the shore. We arrived off Bio de Janeiro before sun- 
rise, Saturday, August 26th, and, being awakened for the 
purpose, arose and went to the captain's bridge to observe 
the scenery on entering the port. It was very picturesque 
and pleasing, though the more distant mountains were 
somewhat obscured by clouds. The granite cone, called 
the Sugar-Loaf, was among the nearest prominent objects. 
A chain of irregular mountains seemed to inclose the har- 
bor of Bio, and from one point of view the captain pointed 
out how the summits formed the figure of a man repos- 



VOYAGE TO BRAZIL. 



9 



ing, of which, if I recollect right, the Sugar-Loaf was the 
feet. The scenery, though not of the sublime cast of 
towering mountains, was, nevertheless, striking. On en- 
tering the ample harbor the scene continually increased 
in interest until the anchor was dropped. An extensive 
city, sparkling in the morning sun, lay stretched at great 
length along the scalloped shore of the bay, covering sev- 
eral hills in its limits, and extending to the very slopes 
of the tree-covered mountains. Botaf ogo Bay, the Gloria 
Hill, and the church on its top, Santa Theresa Hill, the 
Public Garden, the towers of the Cathedral — these were 
some of the objects that were first pointed out to us. 
There, sure enough, was Rio de Janeiro, the greatest city 
of South America, an interesting and attractive place, no 
doubt, yet still a city frequently scourged with the dreaded 
yellow fever ; there was the city which was to be our new 
home — for how long ? 

It was about nine o'clock when we went ashore. We 
first walked to the office of the steamship company, and 
from there took a carriage to our hotel, feeling, of course, 
grateful for having accomplished so long a journey in 
safety. 

There had been nothing of special interest in our 
passage from Lisbon. I was usually awakened before 
sunrise every morning by the seamen washing off the 
deck, and hearing the pigs, which were carried for sub- 
sistence, scampering about on deck at the same time, a 
freedom they had while their pens were being washed. 
Our meals were not taken down-stairs in the cabin, but in 
a pleasant room forward opening from the deck. Break- 
fast was at eight o'clock, consisting of a good beefsteak, 
fried potatoes, good coffee or tea, and bread and fresh 
eggs ; dinner at 2 p. m. and tea at about dark. The after- 



10 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



deck was ample for walking, or pitching quoits, and was 
protected from the sun by an awning. Over the room 
where we ate was also a small deck, with awning, near 
to and about on a level with the officers' bridge, and 
which was a favorite place for sitting and reading or 
lounging, as the prospect from it was extensive and the 
atmosphere agreeable. There were a few nights or parts 
of nights when the heat was oppressive in our state-rooms. 
We could generally, however, keep the round small win- 
dow in each state-room open or partly open, but it was 
sometimes hazardous to do so. One night, when I had 
left the window open in my room, a wave came against 
the ship, dashing fully two buckets of water in upon me 
as I was lying in my berth sound asleep. Another night 
one of our European fellow-passengers had a similar ex- 
perience. 

The crew was composed of steady, sensible Germans, 
including some boys who have very good prospects, as, by 
sticking to their profession, and taking pains to acquire 
theoretical as well as practical knowledge of navigation, 
they may look forward some day to become masters of 
just such a steamship as the Bismarck. In crossing the 
equator a part of an afternoon is devoted to a bit of frolic 
to initiate such seamen as are crossing the line for the 
first time. On this occasion on our steamer there was a 
grotesque procession, after which the candidates were 
subjected to a mock operation of shaving, and, by some 
slip of their seat, found themselves sprawling in a tub of 
water. The whole concluded by the captain treating all 
hands to beer. The only dispute or quarrel, and that 
not serious, which occurred on the voyage, was between a 
couple of the seamen after this hour or so of fun. 

Competent ship-masters agree that the voyage between 



VOYAGE TO BRAZIL. 



11 



the United States and Brazil is easy and pleasant as com- 
pared with that across the North Atlantic. As Captain 
Beers says, "it is a yacht-excursion.' 3 In coming from 
New York to Bio de Janeiro and returning, the weather 
and sea as a rule are favorable, a fact important both to 
merchants and to those who travel for recreation and in- 
struction. 

The United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Com- 
pany began running their line of new passenger-steam- 
ships between New York and Bio de Janeiro in 1883; 
and in October, 1886, commenced the extension of 
their line to Montevideo with their new steamship Alli- 
anca. Leaving their dock at Brooklyn, these steamers 
proceed on every voyage to Newport News, Virginia, 
w T here they take on their supply of coal and a cargo of 
flour, and leave the latter place the evening of the third 
day after starting from Brooklyn. They pass about one 
hundred and fifty miles west of the Bermudas, and in the 
course of five days arrive in the fine harbor of the green 
mountain-island of St. Thomas — an island which Presi- 
dent Lincoln bought of Denmark by a treaty which the 
Senate refused to ratify. There, a hundred black people, 
young and old, male and female, bring coal aboard the 
ship in baskets, which they carry on their heads, working 
almost on the jump. Peddlers of coral hover about the 
ship in their boats ; also, youthful swimmers, who, to 
make a little money and divert the passengers, will dive 
and bring up any small silver coin that the latter may be 
willing to throw into the water. 

From St. Thomas the steamer is a little less than two 
days in reaching Barbadoes, a beautiful undulating and 
exceedingly fertile island, covered with plantations of 
sugar-cane and numerously dotted with dwellings. It is 



12 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



a favorite resort for visitors, has a good modern hotel, 
and living on the island is very cheap. From Barbadoes 
to Para, Brazil's rising city of the Amazon Valley, occu- 
pies from four to five days. Passengers will generally 
wish to visit this and the other Brazilian cities at which 
the steamer calls, but before doing so it may be best to 
consult the surgeon on board. The steamer usually runs 
from Para to Maranham in a day and a half ; from Ma- 
ranham to Pernambuco, an important city and center of 
the sugar- trade, in three and a half days ; from Pernambuco 
to Bahia, in two and a half days ; and from Bahia to Rio 
de Janeiro, in three days. If you are fond of oranges, 
always lay in a supply at Bahia. No good ones are to be 
had at the ports north of Bahia. From Rio to New York 
there are British steamships leaving weekly, some of 
which have good passenger accommodations. A person 
of leisure, or traveling for health, would find a passage 
pleasant on some of the sailing-packets which run regu- 
larly between Baltimore and Rio, a few of which some- 
times make four round voyages in the course of the year. 

A sailing-vessel leaving one of our Atlantic ports, 
bound for Brazil, usually steers east a great distance to get 
into the trade-winds blowing from the northeast to the 
southwest. She goes east for this purpose nearly half- 
way across the Atlantic, then southeasterly to about the 
twenty-eighth degree of latitude ; from there she is car- 
ried along by the northeast trade-wind to the tenth or fifth 
degree of latitude north of the equator, according to the 
season, after which there are light, variable winds till 
about the second degree north of the equator, when the 
southeast trade-winds may be expected, and which take 
the vessel to about the nineteenth degree of latitude south 
of the equator ; after which there are variable winds to 



VOYAGE TO BRAZIL. 



13 



Eio de Janeiro. The average crossing of the equator is 
at longitude 32° west. 

As the " torrid zone " extends some twenty-three de- 
grees on each side of the equator, and as the common un- 
derstanding of the word " torrid " is violent heat, it is no 
wonder that people have a wrong impression of the char- 
acter of the weather at sea in the neighborhood of and 
even under the equator. It is not oppressively hot. On 
the contrary, there is generally a refreshing breeze, and 
the nights are often cool enough for passengers to re- 
quire a blanket for cover in their berths while sleeping. 

I believe there is nothing particularly noteworthy as 
to the phenomena in the vicinity of the equator and 
through the " torrid " zone, except that the weather may 
toward evening be habitually cloudy and look threatening, 
and soon clear up and become bright starlight. The 
water when agitated displays at night much brilliant phos- 
phorescent light. During the day the sight of one or 
two sailing-vessels at a distance, also the frequently seen 
" flying-fish 9 " are about all that would interrupt the mo- 
notony. Going south from the equator, say in August, one 
soon misses the " Great Dipper." The Southern Cross, a 
constellation of but four stars, is then seen in the southern 
heavens early in the evening. The Scorpion is directly 
overhead, and at two or three o'clock in the morning 
Orion is visible just above the eastern horizon. The dis- 
tance from New York to Eio de Janeiro direct is five 
thousand miles; consequently steamships that average 
twelve miles an hour, a reasonable speed, would make the 
voyage in seventeen days ; but, calling as they usually do 
at several intermediate ports, the time is extended five or 
six days. 

2 



CHAPTEE II. 



GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING. 

Carson's English Hotel, at which we stopped, is 
handily located on the Eua Catete, the street-cars pass- 
ing it every five minutes. In size and architecture it is 
unpretentious, but has a large lawn and garden in the 
rear, entirely secluded from the street by one of those 
high walls which still inclose many old dwelling-sites. It 
is an orderly and popular family hotel. If there are 
lady guests, a maid taps at the chamber-door about eight 
in the morning and hands in a pot of black coffee, a 
pitcher of hot milk, some rolls and butter. This is ex- 
pected to sustain nature till you are dressed and come to 
the ordinary eating-room, where breakfast is served from 
nine, or a little before, till twelve. The earthen water- 
bottle, which I shall further along describe, set on its 
own little platter and placed at convenient distances along 
the center of the table, forms a part of what is usually 
on every dining-table. There are dishes of oranges and 
bananas. The steak, or chop, is broiled after you give 
your order. You may need to wait fifteen minutes for 
your breakfast ; but be patient, and you will be treated 
all the better. The servants have been long in the house, 
and have been accustomed to wait on Brazilian magnates 
and their families, who are usually very polite ; and if 



GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING. 15 



transient guests are irritable, they are themselves the 
losers. 

It being our purpose to go to housekeeping as soon as 
convenient after reaching Rio, one of the first things to 
occupy our attention was to search for a suitable house. 
We had got the impression that, to be secure against yel- 
low fever, one should reside on elevated ground — say on 
either the Gloria or the Santa Theresa Hill. "We first 
looked, therefore, at houses on both these hills, making 
the ascent on foot, in very warm weather, several times to 
do so, and saw some very fair houses, commanding a splen- 
did view of the harbor and the mountain scenery on the 
opposite side, but they were so difficult of access that we 
were reluctant to take either one ; and finally learning, 
what I have since become satisfied is the truth, that those 
localities are no more exempt from the fever than some 
other parts of the city less elevated, we began to look 
elsewhere. We visited houses in the favorite districts 
of Sao Christovao, Botaf ogo, and Larangeiras ; and, finally, 
a desirable new house was pointed out to me by Mr. 
Rainsford, an old resident and former United States 
vice-consul, at No. 143 Rua das Larangeiras, which I 
hired (of course, unfurnished) at one thousand dollars per 
year. 

We had visited over a dozen vacant houses altogether, 
and in this way had obtained information about the inside 
of Brazilian houses that we otherwise would not have had. 
What I saw in this regard impressed me that sleeping- 
rooms in the older houses frequently lack windows — mere 
dark alcoves being used for that purpose ; that the kitch- 
ens are very small ; and that the quarters for servants are 
either dark basement-rooms under the principal rooms, or 
else are in small, detached buildings without windows. 



16 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPEOTS. 



There were things, sometimes, in sanitary regards that 
were shocking. 

We had got into our new house and settled at house- 
keeping inside of three weeks after our arrival at Rio. 
Neither carpets nor furniture with woolen or upholstered 
covers are common in Brazilian houses, though there is 
nothing in the climate to prevent their use — for moths 
are no more troublesome in Brazil than in the United 
States ; but not uncommonly a large rug is used to cover 
the middle part of the parlor-floor. For the most part, 
the house furniture is cane-seated, with wood-work of rose- 
wood, mahogany, or some other reddish-colored wood of 
the country. The sofa has a high back, and is a neat and 
substantial piece of furniture. Two rows of about three 
chairs each, facing, are placed at right angles to the sofa, 
forming a little avenue to it. The sofa, about a dozen 
chairs, including two arm-chairs, and two cabinets, or 
" dunkerquerks," with marble tops and mirrored doors, 
will cost about five hundred dollars. This will answer as 
a specimen for a part of the furniture in houses of the 
middle class. Of course, rich upholstered furniture is 
found in the dwellings of the wealthy. In damp and hot 
weather, clothing and books gather mold, and should be 
frequently looked after and exposed to the sun. 

There is no trouble about stoves or furnaces. I know 
only one house in Rio provided with heating accommo- 
dations. The stoves for cooking are put in as a part of 
the house. The fuel consists of wood obtained in the vi- 
cinity, and comes in small bundles of slender split sticks, 
three feet long, each bundle being about a foot in diame- 
ter. The numerous grocery-shops, or " venders," furnish 
and deliver them; but they can generally be obtained 
more economically by the cart-load from wood-dealers. 



GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING. 



17 



The majority of the people live from hand to mouth, 
and buy their supplies from day to day at the handiest 
shop ; others buy a month's supply of groceries from 
some dealer down town. The bread made by the bakers 
in Eio is so good that no family thinks of baking its own 
bread. Beef is bought fresh every morning, and is gener- 
ally good. The slaughter of beef-creatures takes place 
several miles out of the city, under government super- 
vision. The meat is brought into the city on the railroad 
before evening, and, just before dark, great, heavy, closed 
wagons, drawn by four mules, go rumbling through the 
city and deliver the beef in quarters at the numerous 
meat-shops. By ten o'clock in the morning the retailer 
has generally sold out all of his stock, though after that 
a few pieces may be seen hanging up at his door. Ice is 
rather a dear luxury, though it is now manufactured ex- 
tensively at Eio. Families get along, however, very well 
without ice, by cooking their meat the day it is bought, 
and keeping the food in perforated zinc-paneled, movable 
cupboards — a most useful article of pantry furniture, 
which I have only seen in Brazil. 

Fresh pork is regarded in Eio as a luxury. The salt 
pork of the country is good, and comes in a dry condition 
in heavy rolls. Poultry is sold alive through fear of dis- 
ease. Turkeys are driven in flocks and peddled at a high 
price ; the drivers, at a slow pace and in a singing tone, ad- 
vertising as they go. There are numerous cow-stables all 
through the city, and milk is delivered in bottles by men 
afoot, though a few carts are making a beginning. It is 
also common to drive cows around singly in the morning, 
and to milk at the door the quantity a family may require. 
In such cases the calf is allowed to accompany the cow, 
but is subjected to a muzzle. This dairy business appears 



18 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

to be in the hands of the Portuguese ; and the frequent 
sight of these cows led about through the streets by in- 
nocent, country-looking youths, in some cases quite fresh 
from the valleys of Portugal, gives Rio a rustic feature 
which is pleasant. 

Of family subsistence, more things are of foreign pro- 
duction than would, at first thought, be supposed. Butter 
comes in tin cans from Denmark, or some other foreign 
country ; lard from the United States ; potatoes and on- 
ions from Portugal. Neither green corn, green peas, nor 
tomatoes to any extent, are found in the Bio market. 
There is a fair supply of several kinds of delicate sea-fish, 
and the best way to procure them is to go direct to the 
principal market, rather than depend on fish-peddlers, 
whose presence can often be known by the sense of smell. 
The mero, one of the best, is a thick fish with black skin, 
without scales, costing forty cents a pound, and grows 
to the size of two hundred pounds. The badejo is an- 
other dark-skinned fish, without scales, and attains a 
weight of sixty pounds. The roballo has scales of the 
color of the shad, a black stripe on each side, and looks 
like our salt-water striped bass; its ordinary weight is 
about seven pounds. The curvina is reddish-colored, has 
thick, hard scales, which have to be shaved off, with an 
outer skin, and weighs about six pounds. This, and the 
vermelho, are similar to the red snapper of the Gulf of 
Mexico in appearance, and in the delicacy and firmness of 
their flesh. Nearly all the fish are caught in the Bay of Eio 
de Janeiro, into which they come from the sea, though 
some are taken outside as far as Cape Frio, eighteen hours 
distant by sail. The mero and badejo are caught only 
with the hook. 

The metric system of weights and measures is in use, 



GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING. 



19 



and meat, fish, and groceries are bought by the kilogramme 
of two and twenty hundredths pounds. The unit for the 
measure of money is the milreis — thousand reis — on the 
same principle as if we in the United States were to indi- 
cate our money in mills, and in writing a dollar should 
say one thousand mills. In figures the Brazilians write a 
milreis thus, 1$000. Five hundred reis, or half a milreis, 
they write $500, and a conto — one thousand milreis — 
1,000$000. There are nickel one hundred and two hun- 
dred reis-pieces, the first worth about four cents and the 
latter eight cents. There are also copper pieces of which 
five are equal to a hundred reis. The Brazilian milreis in 
gold has the value of fifty-four and six tenths cents. But 
neither gold nor silver is in circulation. All of the money 
consists of irredeemable legal-tender Government notes 
which have for years been continually depreciating in 
value till in 1885 the milreis, in paper, was worth only 
about thirty-six cents. It rose to the value of forty cents 
the first half of 1886. This sort of money in a country 
affects business just on the same principle as if the length 
of the yardstick were to change from week to week. 

The average wages of servants in good families are 
about forty-five milreis, say sixteen dollars, per month. 
Some of the best servants are slaves, who are owned and 
have been trained by people of the upper class. The 
wages of such servants all go to the owner. The Portu- 
guese generally make industrious and reliable servants, and 
are very commonly employed in such capacity. They do 
not expect to make or receive many visits ; and they are 
usually bright, cheerful, and respectful. As the halls, 
stairs, and floors, especially in dining-rooms, are uncar- 
peted, there is considerable scrubbing to be done, and that 
is done by men on their knees. A man-servant of some 



20 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



of the wealthier families will rise daily as early as five 
and go to the market, two miles distant, to buy what is 
needed for the table in the way of fish, meat, vegetables, 
and fruit. But, ordinarily, your man-servant rises at six, 
and in a pair of slip-shod slippers goes to the nearest meat- 
shop for the day's supply ; while the meat is being cut, he 
steps into the shop of the adjoining grocer and buys a 
morning journal, the columns of which he enjoys reading 
as much as any one. If he feels like it, he indulges in a 
small glass of the spirits of the country. On his return 
to the house, in the course of ten or fifteen minutes, he 
blacks your boots, sweeps the dining-room and hall, per- 
haps washes off the steps and sidewalk in front, sets the 
table for breakfast, cleans the parrot-cage, and generally 
continues occupied through the day, taking a few whiffs 
from a cigarette at intervals. 

There is in common use in Brazil, as well as in Span- 
ish America and in Portugal and Spain, an earthen bottle 
(called in Brazil moringue) for holding drinking-water, 
which is very serviceable, and would form a most useful 
addition to American household utensils in warm weather, 
as it keeps water fresh and cool a long time. It is like- 
wise a very picturesque object, being in the form of an 
ancient Greek pattern, of which a specimen, all but the 
stopper, is given in Plate XXVIII, page 234, of Eastlake's 
" Household Taste," under the head of " Greek toilet- 
ware." The lower part of this bottle is bulbous in form, 
about eight inches in diameter, the neck four or five 
inches long, so as to be conveniently grasped by the hand, 
and one and a half inch in diameter at the mouth. The 
stopper is hollow, with a neat circular cap top. The bot- 
tom is flat, and it is usually set on a small plate of the 
same material — the whole of a deep Indian-red color. 



GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING. 



21 



The quality of being unglazed gives it the power to keep 
water cool. Being used also with a stopper, as it always 
should be, it prevents the water from absorbing the im- 
purities of the atmosphere ; it also excludes insects ; and 
for these reasons, and because it keeps the water cool, it 
would be a vast improvement on our open pitchers. In 
the sick-chamber at night it would prove especially valu- 
able. Its introduction into our country would also tend 
to do away with the use of ice-water. These bottles are 
all made by hand, and beautifully shaped by the eye, from 
a lump of moist and prepared clay, while revolving rap- 
idly on a little table which the workman keeps in motion 
by a crank worked with his foot. They are retailed singly, 
with the plate, at less than fifty cents. Glazed and fancy 
painted bottles are often to be seen on the tables of res- 
taurants and hotels, but they do not keep the water cool, 
nor are they as picturesque as the unglazed bottles. !No 
family undertakes to do without the latter. 



CHAPTER III. 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 

While the first rude huts were being built where 
Hew York now stands, Rio de Janeiro, the commercial 
and political capital of Brazil, had been settled over fifty 
years. It is situated as far south as Havana is north of 
the equator, and has now a population of nearly half a 
million, it being the largest city, outside of the United 
States, on the American Continent. It is the seat of half 
the foreign commerce of the empire, has a navy-yard, 
arsenal, several ship-yards, cotton - mills, foundries, and 
other manufactures. If one of our larger ships of war 
needed repairs while in the South Atlantic, it could find 
only at Rio a sufficiently large dry-dock. The glory of 
the city is its splendid harbor, four miles wide by twelve 
miles long, and into which the largest ships can enter with 
ease and lie in safety. The city is built on one side of 
the bay which forms this harbor, with wooded and peaked 
mountains in the immediate background, whose spurs 
and foot-hills, in places, press down almost to the water's 
edge, forming headlands between which are smaller, cres- 
cent-shaped bays. The older part of the city is on low, flat 
land, where the streets are straight and narrow. Within 
the present city limits are twenty hills, some of which are 
quite prominent and covered with buildings. The prin- 
cipal hill is Santa Theresa. On the Gloria are a white 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



23 



church of the same name, and a few villas amid scattered 
royal palms ; on the Castle Hill are the observatory and 
shipping telegraph station, while the Saude Hill is covered 
with old and cheap dwellings. Two or three other hills 
are noticeable as the sites of old and rather dingy- looking 
convents. Others, again, are about in their natural state, 
clothed with bushes and trees, though here and there are 
considerable areas of green grass. Granite-quarrying is 
going on extensively at the base and sides of several hills. 

From the Botanical Garden, situated at the foot of the 
Corcovado Mountain, around to the foot of the Tijuca 
Mountains, the distance is about ten miles, all of which is 
built up. The whole of this distance can be traveled in 
street-cars, and the trip would give one many interesting 
views and a fair idea of the city. Another interesting 
ride on the street-cars would be to Ponte Caju, and past 
the cemetery of that name. It is a promontory, at the end 
of which the Emperor has his hunting-park, but which, 
I imagine, he seldom visits. A still more interesting trip 
on the street-cars is up the inclined plane in cars pulled 
by a cable and stationary engine on the Santa Theresa Hill, 
and to the new reservoir, the view from which is fine. 

The best view of Eio and its surroundings is obtained 
from the top of the Corcovado Mountain, two thousand 
feet high, situated about five miles from the custom- 
house. Though connected with the Tijuca group of 
mountains, among which are some higher peaks, it is easily 
distinguished by its peculiar form. The side toward the 
sea is a precipitous column of rock for half the distance 
down from the top — the Botanical Garden lying at the 
foot. The opposite side is gradually sloping, clothed 
with forest, and from some points of view is thought to 
look like the stooping shoulders of an old man — a fancy 



24: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 

which suggested its name. The view from the summit, 
taking in as it does almost the whole extended and irreg- 
ular area of the city, with many interesting natural ob- 
jects, is highly pleasing. Like Naples, as seen from the 
hill of St. Elmo, the level part of the city resembles a 
plane of tiled roofs, with steeples and domes interspersed, 
yet studded with several bright-green hills dotted with 
buildings and trees. In the direction of the Emperor's 
residence, some six miles distant, and which seems to 
stand amid an undulating, verdant park, are large tracts 
of vacant, level, and grass-covered land, showing what an 
extensive area remains for the city to be built upon far- 
ther up the bay. Beyond these in the distance are to be 
seen the Organ and Petropolis Mountains, though they 
are frequently obscured by the clouds. The blue Atlan- 
tic, visible as far as the eye can reach, the surf rolling 
over white beaches near the foot of the mountain, the few 
scattered islands near the shore, the Sugar-Loaf and other 
prominent heights near the entrance of the harbor, the 
capacious harbor itself with its numerous vessels, the old 
city of Nictheroy on the opposite side — these are some of 
the many objects upon which the eye lingers. A rail- 
way for most of the way up was opened in the latter part 
of 1884, and completed to the top the next year ; so that 
now, by taking the Larangeiras street-car and the new 
railway connecting therewith, one can get from the heart 
of the city to the summit in an hour. The area on the 
summit is about a fifth of an acre, all granite, and is 
inclosed by a firm concrete wall. At Paineiras, two 
thirds of the way up, is a fashionable restaurant hotel. 

Is Rio built of wood, of brick, or of marble ? Neither. 
It is, however, massively built. The walls of the build- 
ings are concrete, formed of small pieces of split stone, 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



25 



mortar, and an occasional layer of brick, are usually two 
feet thick, and in some of the older public buildings even 
thicker. The color of the walls is frequently white, some- 
times a brilliant blue, olive-green, or a light red. The 
roofs, four-sided, of the hip style, are all covered with 
thick, red, oval tiles, and, there being no chimneys, their 
aspect is dull. To relieve this, the more genteel houses 
have either a balustrade or stuccoed wall around the 
roof s, with statues, vases, or other figures on the corners. 
The stories and windows are high. Balconies are common, 
with smooth granite bottoms, sculptured underneath, be- 
ing composed of large blocks extending through the thick- 
ness of the wall, and lending strength as well as ornament 
to the edifice. The windows in the modern buildings 
open door-fashion, and are well adapted to the climate. 
They are very securely fastened at top and bottom by 
simply one turn of the handle of an iron bolt. Windows 
in the lower stories have strong wooden folding shutters 
inside. In chamber-windows the glass part opens inward 
on hinges, with blinds opening outward. The trimmings, 
such as window-caps, door and window facings, are of 
smooth granite — the handsome black and white granite so 
abundant at Rio — often perfectly arched, and lend an as- 
pect of durability as w r ell as of ornament to the building. 
The foundation-walls, to the height of two feet or more, 
are of granite. In some of the stuccoed buildings almost 
too much expense seems to have been devoted to outside 
show. Many houses are in imitation of reddish marble 
and very handsome. Some of the inside shutters, of 
black walnut, or those painted white with gilt borders, 
show to advantage through windows of plate-glass. There 
is not much display of curtains. The front sides of some 
of the older buildings are wholly or partly covered with 
3 



26 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



flat porcelain tiles, generally of blue color, like what may 
be seen in Lisbon. There is but one marble building in 
Bio, and that is a sumptuous private mansion of reddish 
Italian marble, with splendid grounds extending down to 
the water, and singularly called the " Palace of Tears." The 
Library building of the Portuguese colony, now in course 
of erection, is of white stone from Portugal and of elabo- 
rate Gothic architecture. The new Merchants' Exchange 
is of granite only in the first story, the tipper part being 
of stucco. The fronts of some of the churches are of 
light-colored imported stone. The Mint is a neat build- 
ing, with Doric granite pillars ; the Marine Hospital (Mise- 
ricordia) is a stately edifice, with a colonnade of imposing 
granite pillars, fronting on the water. The Bank of 
Brazil is a fine granite structure ; likewise the new Medi- 
cal School. So, also, the Cathedral has a high and hand- 
some dome. But generally the public buildings and 
churches are plain. The Imperial Palace is simply re- 
spectable,, yet has a lovely situation. 

The fashionable private residences are in those parts 
of the city know as Larangeiras and Botaf ogo, also to 
some extent in Sao Christovao, each abont three miles 
from the business center, and reached by street-cars. Of 
these localities Larangeiras is the more elevated. The 
houses of the wealthy are mostly separate, standing in 
delightful grounds, amid neatly kept lawns, flower-beds, 
shrubbery of various colors, different varieties of trees, 
including often some species of dwarf palm, and groups 
of the clustered, small-stemmed palm of Para. Some- 
times there is a row of royal palms in front of the house, 
or there may be an avenue of these palms leading to the 
house. They are seventy to eighty feet high, but seem 
much taller, with tops like gigantic ostrich-plumes and 



EIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



27 



stems perfectly smooth and symmetrical — the most strik- 
ing tree of the tropics. . The grounds of these houses are 
inclosed by an iron fence consisting of perpendicular ar- 
row- or spear-pointed rods set upon a substantial wall of 
smooth granite, the whole about twelve feet high. But 
the most characteristic, and, I think, one of the most at- 
tractive features of the surroundings are the gate-pillars 
at the main driveway or entrance from the street. The 
gates themselves are of iron rods, but the pillars are often 
beautifully proportioned shafts of sculptured granite, sur- 
mounted by graceful capitals, on which rests a ball of the 
same material. More commonly the gate-pillars are of 
masonry, two or three feet thick and twelve to fifteen 
feet high, and sometimes surmounted by a vase contain- 
ing the gilt-bordered cactus, or by a figure of a lion, a 
big pineapple, or a small statue. JSTot unusually they, as 
well as the fence, are covered with a thick mat of closely 
trimmed myrtle, or with vines bearing brilliant flowers. 
The hollyhock, the begonia, the oleander, the red-flow- 
ered eusibius of Mexico, and many other plants, in their 
seasons of bloom attract attention in these various incis- 
ures. Often the entrance to the house is at the side, and, 
instead of there being much ground in front, there will be 
a narrow strip extending on one side of the house a long 
distance to the rear and well stocked with orange-trees and 
shrubbery. One may ride in the open street-cars by some 
of the finer of these private residences and grounds daily 
the year round, and look upon their bright and cheerful 
aspect with undiminished pleasure. 

Eio has gathered a variety of beautiful flowering trees 
from different parts of the tropical world. There are 
several large and tall ones, some bearing purple flowers, 
others yellow flowers, whose names I do not know ; and 



28 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



I presume one reason why so few people at Rio know the 
names of the trees is because the species are not native. 
The flambeau, or torch-tree, bearing scarlet blossoms in 
December, is becoming common as a shade-tree. The 
large - leaf ed chapeo do sul, or umbrella-tree, has been 
planted for shade in many of the streets. A splendid 
tall tree, with small and very dark green leaves, bearing 
large red flowers in August and September — the Espar- 
todia excelsa of Australia — may be seen in a few private 
grounds and in the Public Garden. The mango is a large 
native tree, very common, and at a distance resembles a 
spreading oak ; it puts forth russet-colored flowers in July. 
The tall, thick, yet graceful clusters of bamboo, with 
plume-like tops and always dark green, are a characteristic 
feature of the vegetation. A large and tall shade-tree, 
bearing nuts, with leaves like those of the lilac, and which 
small birds love to haunt, is rather common. In the out- 
skirts of the city around the cabins of the poor are plen- 
tiful thickets of the broad-leaved banana. As a whole, it 
is a vegetation that craves and is favored by an abundance 
of sunshine. 

The Public Garden, containing about eight acres ; the 
Park of the Constitution, still larger, and containing a 
fine bronze statue of the Emperor's father, surrounded by 
groups of aborigines of heroic size ; and the Park of Accla- 
mation, containing about forty acres, are in the middle part 
of the city, and well laid out. In the older and lower por- 
tions of Eio the streets are very narrow ; and the sidewalks, 
which are scarcely wide enough for two to go abreast, are 
raised but an inch or two above the street pavement. The 
foot-boards on the sides of some of the street-cars overlap 
these sidewalks a little, and frequently the wheels of heavy 
teams driving at a rapid pace invade them, compelling 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



29 



people on foot to dodge into a shop-door to escape being 
run over. These narrow streets are the only thorough- 
fares of commerce ; and when the export trade is active, 
and great cargoes of coffee destined to Europe and the 
United States are being moved through them at reckless 
speed, the noise and din of the long trains of loaded wagons 
and of street freight-cars, drawn by mules, with the yell- 
ing of excited drivers, are intense. These narrow streets 
are behind the times, and altogether unsuitable for the 
great traffic that is done in them. Could Rio be remodeled 
as Paris was by Napoleon III, it would become one of the 
finest cities in the world. The city throughout is well 
paved with granite blocks, and is generously lighted by 
gas, the lamps for which are kept scrupulously clean. Elec- 
tric light is used in some places. Great improvement has 
been made in the past fifteen years, especially in drainage 
and cleanliness ; and improvement is still the order of the 
day, though it is not so rapid nor systematic as it could be 
if there were some leading business men's organization that 
could influence public opinion. An English corporation, 
called the City Improvement Company, has for several 
years had a contract for making drains, and an extensive 
system of drainage is in operation and continually increas- 
ing. The pavement of some of the older streets still 
slopes a little to the center, through which, during a heavy 
shower, there will run quite a brook. Several of these 
streets, including the much-traveled Ouvidor, may, during 
a heavy rain, be impassable by foot-people for an hour. 
There will be times when the only way to get across them 
will be by a temporary foot-bridge, fixed by some street- 
porter. A too confident jumper will now and then land 
in the water, much to the amusement of the by-standers. 
Though not subject to snow blockades, Rio is liable to 



30 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 



blockades of sand and earth, washed down from the hills 
during an unusually heavy fall of rain. In 1883 some of 
the street-cars were stopped two days by such obstruction. 

The principal means of communication are street-cars, 
drawn by mules over very smoothly laid steel rails. The 
pioneer street-railway was to the Botanical Garden, estab- 
lished several years ago by American enterprise. It ac- 
commodates the Botaf ogo and Larangeiras districts. Natu- 
rally the money for the undertaking was raised by the 
sale of the company's bonds, and from that fact the street- 
cars in Rio are universally called " bondes." " Are you 
going to take the ' bond 5 ? " means in Rio, " Are you 
going to take the street-car ? " The street-railways are 
well managed, comfortable, and popular. The first-class 
cars are open, yet provided with leather or oil-cloth cur- 
tains, to exclude rain or sun. The seats of polished Bra- 
zil-wood or mahogany face to the front, and the backs can 
be swung over when the direction is reversed. Each seat 
accommodates four persons, who can sit very comfortably. 
It is only on the cheaper, or second-class cars, that more 
than the regular number of passengers are allowed to 
crowd in. A conductor passes along outside on a foot- 
board to take the fare. For a distance of two miles, or 
less, the fare is a nickel of two hundred reis, equivalent to 
eight cents. These first-class cars are habitually used by 
the wealthy, yet the humblest person is admitted without 
distinction of color, unless barefooted. So comfortable 
are they, that people, of an evening, often take a ride in 
them for pleasure. They afford opportunity for noticing 
the manners of the people, who, as a rule, are quiet and 
well-bred. Of course, smoking is universally allowed. 
Perhaps half the gentlemen on a street-car in the morn- 
ing will be smoking cigars or cigarettes. Soon after the 



KIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



31 



Brazilian has taken his seat, he proceeds with great de- 
liberation to prepare to smoke. He takes from his pocket 
a neat pouch of tobacco, from a pocket-book a ready-cut 
cigarette-wrapper, generally of corn-husk, into which he 
puts a few small pinches of tobacco, at the same time dis- 
tributing it along, and pressing and rolling it into proper 
form; he folds the wrapper around it with care, then 
takes from another pocket a little box of explosive match- 
es, lights his cigarette, and proceeds to smoke. He is in 
no hurry about anything. Perhaps, seated next to him, 
is one of the many devout Sisters of Charity, in her uni- 
form of white bonnet and gray, woolen dress, and who, 
by the movement of her lips, her downcast expression, and 
slow telling of her beads, is saying prayers. 

For public carriages there is the one-horse chaise (til- 
bury) and hacks drawn by two mules. Distances being 
long, the pavements rather rough, and the main streets 
much intersected by railways, there is little inducement for 
private equipages, of which there are but few. Besides, 
there is not in Rio, nor in its suburbs nearer than the 
mountains of Tijuca, any pleasure driveway — a great lack, 
indeed, in respect of recreation for the wealthy. Proba- 
bly the Copacabana Beach, which is right along the ocean 
and favored with mountain views, is not too distant for 
this purpose. "Were a macadamized road built there, and 
nicely shaded with trees, it would afford a driveway as 
fine as that at Marseilles. Such things will come in their 
time — say a hundred years from now, when the city will 
be much richer than it is at present. The general absence 
of elegant private carriages, and the habit of genteel peo- 
ple riding in the " bondes," give Rio a democratic char- 
acteristic that few other cities possess. Rich and poor 
travel in the pleasant, open street-cars. The exceptions 



32 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



are the imperial family and the cabinet ministers. Each 
of the latter, by fashion's edict, maintains a two-horse 
coupe, which is generally driven very fast, and closely fol- 
lowed by a couple of mounted guards. 

The street most frequented is the Rua do Ouvidor, 
extending from the water about half a mile to the Largo, 
or Square of Sao Francisco, and its locality should be well 
fixed in the mind of the stranger, because eight or ten 
street-railway lines for the direction of Sao Christovao 
start from the Square of Sao Francisco, where it ends, and 
the Botanical Garden and Larangeiras lines leave it at the 
foot of Eua Gongalves Dias. In the vicinity of where it 
leaves the water are the custom-house, post-office, Mer- 
chants' Exchange, public market, the principal banks, and 
the shops of the money-changers. It is not much more 
than twenty feet wide, contains some of the best shops, in 
whose plate-glass windows are displayed costly jewelry or 
silks, and is so much occupied by pedestrians that car- 
riages are not allowed in it from early in the morning till 
late at night ; though the big one-mule garbage-carts, with 
their dust and smells, detained by late risers, are often not 
through their daily service till after ten in the morning. 
About that time squads of business-men, brokers, and 
clerks, who left their homes from half an hour to an hour 
before on the street-cars, and have just alighted, are seen 
hurrying along through this street, with umbrella in hand, 
to their several places of business. Besides having the 
best dry-goods, millinery, and jewelry stores, it also has 
some of the best and most frequented coffee-restaurants. 
There, about the middle of the day, and especially, on 
Mondays, fashionable ladies, often accompanied by their 
daughters, are to be seen shopping. The Polytechnic 
School and College of Dom Pedro II being near one end 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



33 



of this street, it is a convenient place for students to lin- 
ger a little after the hours of examination. A person 
walking from the Chamber of Deputies to the Senate 
would pass there. From these and other circumstances, it 
happens that, from noon till about two o'clock in the after- 
noon, the street is generally crowded with people, many 
of whom are standing in groups conversing. If there is 
a Cabinet crisis or other political excitement, a crowd will 
be reading the latest bulletins at the newspaper-offices. 
Matronly and richly dressed ladies with their handsome 
children by their side, wealthy planters from the country, 
senators and deputies — some of the most distinguished- 
looking men of the empire ; groups of students, and often 
a little party of foreign travelers just stopping off from a 
steamship for a few hours' stroll — these, together with the 
hundreds hastening along on business errands, help to 
make up an animated throng which is numerous enough 
to impede one's progress. With the temperature at 90° 
Fahr. in the shade, the heat on such occasions is op- 
pressive, though the awnings in front of the shops keep 
off much of the sun. 

The dress of the Rio people differs scarcely any from 
that of Europeans and Americans. The Brazilian gen- 
tleman wears the " stove-pipe " or stiff silk hat, a double- 
breasted frock-coat of black cloth, closely buttoned even 
in the warmest weather, and trousers of the same mate- 
rial. Business men generally wear the common stiff felt 
hat ; and, in hot weather, trousers and vests of white linen 
are common. Straw hats are less used than in the United 
States. There are any number of ready-made clothing 
stores at Bio, and apparently the goods are about the same 
as supplied in northern climes. 

The type of countenance is Latin ; complexion dark, 



34 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 

hair and eyes black, forehead high, nose prominent. The 
eyes are generally large, and the expression amiable. La- 
dies, at middle age, are inclined to be fat ; and while one 
frequently sees tall men at Rio, the stature of the people 
is lower than that of Americans and the inhabitants of the 
north of Europe. It is only in the Amazon Valley that 
there has been much mixture of races. 

Sea-bathing is very popular, though the water is that 
of the bay, and not quite as pure as the ocean. Some 
ladies rise at four in the morning, ride a mile or two in 
the street-car to a beach, bathe in the salt water, and then 
go back home and go to bed again. 

There is a good deal of reserve in the female character ; 
although, as a rule, Brazilians are informal. Especially 
are the young unmarried ladies of the higher society dig- 
nified and formal. A single gentleman sitting near one 
of them at dinner, even though he had been introduced, 
would need to be cautious in offering his assistance. If 
he were attentive, for example, in passing her different 
things within his reach, a look of surprise on her part 
would be likely to warn him that he was making himself 
too free. These young ladies have more color than would 
perhaps be expected in a tropical country. They have 
black eyes, an abundance of black hair, and their educa- 
tion consists principally of a knowledge of the French lan- 
guage, music, and embroidery. 

Macedo, a popular Brazilian author, wrote in regard 
to Brazilian women previous to 1873: "The ancient 
anachronic and oppressive Portuguese customs which com- 
pelled the ladies — mothers and daughters — to live se- 
cluded from society, shut up in the depths of the domes- 
tic hearth, only visible to relations and intimate friends, 
and only to be guessed at in the churches and public 



KIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



35 



places of amusement through their rich or simple man- 
tillas and their thick veils — those rude customs of wom- 
an's captivity, for whom, as a general rule, the father se- 
lected a husband, have long since been condemned and 
banished from Brazil, where, in the capital and in the 
cities, as regards ladies and families, the same formalities 
of a good, accessible, and polished society are observable 
and practiced as in the most civilized cities of the Old 
World." 

The characteristic thought of Brazil is positivism, or 
the science of society — belief in the elevation of society 
mainly by the improvement of morals. The same style 
of thinking takes the lead at Bio. But a great maritime 
city, having constant intercourse with the outer world, 
will always be more enlightened, humane, and liberal than 
the average of people. Hence, the society of Rio is more 
refined than that of Brazil in general. Fashionable so- 
ciety follows the style of the genteel classes in Europe. 
It is an orderly city, though not exempt from those occa- 
sional crimes of violence that occur in large cities. Two 
or three years ago there was something of a riot, and 
some street-lamps were broken, because the gas company 
(English) had raised its charges ; but even such disturb- 
ances are rare. The police are generally young men, and, 
though slight in appearance, will sometimes hang on to a 
powerful offender with real grit. Some of the hardest 
customers they have to deal with are intoxicated foreign 
seamen. 

A practice which strikes Americans as novel is the 
carrying of immense burdens on the head. There goes 
a cooper's fifteen-year-old apprentice-lad bearing on his 
head six empty ten-gallon hard-wood kegs, bound in one 
package! There comes a porter, carrying in the same 



36 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 



way an empty dry-goods box as big as an ox- cart ! Tin- 
peddlers go about with, a general assortment of their wares 
carried in a big basin on tlieir heads ; and, like all ped- 
dlers at Rio, they endeavor to draw attention by continu- 
ally beating on some of their implements. Stout colored 
women, with fine figures, necks and arms like bronze, 
peddle liver and tripe, which they carry in large trays on 
their heads. So, a porter will often be seen carrying in 
this way a wicker coop containing two or three dozen live 
chickens. But the heaviest burdens borne upon the head 
are pianos. It is quite common to see six negroes march- 
ing along in step with a piano on their heads, which they 
may be carrying a couple of miles. The porters who han- 
dle coffee, and who carry bags of it on their heads weigh- 
ing one hundred and thirty-two pounds each, are generally 
f Africans. Some of them are natives of Africa, and be- 
lievers in the Mohammedan religion. They seem temper- 
ate and industrious, and, when unoccupied with heavy 
work, sit in the doorways of the wholesale houses braid- 
ing straw or palm-leaf hats. If there are a few near to- 
gether, their voices may frequently be heard in loud but 
good-humored talk. Their naked feet — and very stubby, 
queer-looking feet some of them are — occupy a certain 
part of the narrow sidewalk. These men generally appear 
to be upward of fifty years old, and sometimes one of them 
will be seen leaning his head against the side of the door- 
way enjoying a nap. The presence of so many humble 
laborers occupying the doorways of many of the impor- 
tant business houses indicates a humane and free-and-easy 
feeling. 

There, on the sidewalk, against the wall of a church, 
sits a cobbler, plying his trade in the open air. He is bare- 
headed and barefooted. A young apprentice works with 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



37 



him. Scattered through the city are many such who thus 
get their rent free, as their progenitors did thousands of 
years ago in old Borne and Tyre. 

The most numerous street-venders are those, of all 
ages, who sell lottery-tickets. Lotteries are legalized and 
protected by the Government in all parts of the country, 
and the purchase and sale of lottery-tickets is one of the 
chief subjects of popular interest. "Anclar hoje ! " (" The 
wheel turns to-day ! ") is a call from the lips of lottery-ticket 
sellers w r hich greets the passer-by at many street-corners 
the year round. Bio seems a paradise for newspaper-boys 
— a jolly and peaceable set — the most of whom go bare- 
footed, wear patched trousers, a shirt, a black felt hat, and 
smoke cigarettes. They hover at the regular starting and 
stopping places of the street-cars, and go on a keen run 
from the newspaper-offices with the latest edition. They 
shout the papers, and make a great deal of clamor, espe- 
cially when it has a list of lottery-prizes. The confec- 
tionary-venders, equally numerous and noisy, sell home- 
made candies, called hallas, each done up in a twist of 
fancy colored paper. These venders are generally black 
or mulatto slave-boys, who are required to carry home a 
fixed sum, and are allowed the surplus if there be any. 
While the fashionable street-car is rapidly filling, or far- 
ther on waits a minute for a coming car to pass, the in- 
dulgent Brazilian parent has just time to buy a handful 
of these sweets for the children. 

There are several itinerant bands of German musi- 
cians, who go about the streets of Bio and execute instru- 
mental music for the pay that the by-standers may choose 
to give. A few of these bands comprise a dozen mem- 
bers, and their instruments are what are generally used 

by an orchestra. They seem to make the round of the 
4 



38 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AKD PROSPECTS. 



city every ten days or two weeks. All at once, say about 
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, when the heat is most in- 
tense, the occupants of a counting-room are liable to hear 
under their windows the inspiring strains of some fine 
overture, executed by one of these bands. 

The native, the Portuguese, and the Italian elements, 
comprise the majority of the laboring classes. Many of 
the Portuguese are from the Azores, and are usually in- 
dustrious and saving. Generally laborers are paid every 
fifteen days; but house-servants, salesmen, and clerks, 
monthly. At common labor men now earn at Kio about 
eighty cents a day ; machinists, from seven to thirty dol- 
lars a week, depending on the degree of skill and kind of 
trade. Laboring-men at Rio usually five in estalagems 
or in cortigos. The former is the name given to a num- 
ber of small houses, built together and forming a square, 
or sometimes even occupying the ground-floor of a respect- 
able dwelling-house. A cortigo (hive) is where these houses 
are almost limited to one room each, and have to be 
reached by a common staircase and veranda. Quarters in 
an estalagem may be rented at from five to eight dollars a 
month ; and in a cortigo, at from three and a half to four 
and a half dollars a month. Single men hiring only one 
room pay two and a half to three and a half dollars a 
month. These hives are generally very much wanting in 
sanitary regards. The best quarters never comprise more 
than three rooms — a sitting-room, a bedroom, and a kitch- 
en. The sitting-room and the bedroom are each about 
ten feet square ; the kitchen much smaller. Some houses 
do not have a kitchen, in which case the occupants cook 
out in the common yard. In the sitting-room are gener- 
ally found a pine-wood table, wooden or sometimes cane- 
seated chairs, and, more rarely, a cane-seated sofa. In 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



39 



the bedroom stand a bedstead, an iron wash-stand, and, 
perhaps, a chest of drawers ; and on the walls may be seen 
some cheap picture of a saint. In the kitchen is an iron 
stove belonging to the house, an earthen water- jar, and 
some shelves. Usually the bedroom has no window, but 
there are openings at the top of the wall for ventilation. 
The workman leaves his house for his work, and the wife 
passes the whole day washing and ironing. The health of 
these women often breaks down from overwork. It is not 
usual among the laboring classes for families to lay up 
money. However, one sometimes sees men, particularly 
the unmarried, endure all kinds of privations to save 
money. Many of the young, toiling Portuguese look for- 
ward to returning at some future day to their native island 
or country, and buying a little patch of ground with all 
its free appurtenances of sun and sky, and doubly dear 
from its boyhood associations. In no clime do men work 
harder than at Eio, and the frugal can rise in the world. 
A short time ago there died at Eio a baron owning a num- 
ber of houses, which brought him a monthly revenue of 
seventeen hundred dollars, and who began life as a ped- 
dler of liver and tripe. After the day's work is done, the 
time is frequently passed in card-playing, in a game of 
quoits, or in singing. The Italians are fond of singing, 
and amuse themselves thus, and by playing on the accor- 
dion and banjo. One cotton and woolen factory at Eio 
employs sixty women and forty-seven children as opera- 
tives. Some other factories employ female operatives. 
Women are also employed in boot and shoe factories. 
Probably two thousand females are employed in manu- 
facturing establishments in the city. 

Of laboring-men seen in the streets a majority are 
barefooted, and wear simply an undershirt, common black 



40 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



felt hat, and trousers of "blue cotton drilling, often much 
faded and patched. Scarcely one in a hundred wears a 
cravat or anything about the neck. The bone and sinew 
of Rio are replenished every year by some thousands of 
temperate, industrious, and hardy people from the Azore 
Islands and the mountain districts of Portugal. 

Being the capital, Eio is under the jurisdiction of the 
Crown, which attends to all such matters as the supply of 
water, light, and police. The Municipal Council now have 
a new and fine chamber ; they are elected for four years, 
and their president is the acting mayor. They receive 
no salaries. Licenses for the sale of spirits are not high. 
About every grocery retails spirits, or may do so ; and 
there are, besides, many stands, or kiosks, in the more fre- 
quented squares where spirits are retailed. A good deal 
of native rum is drunk by the slaves and lower class of la- 
borers, which is sold at only a cent or two for a small glass. 
The use of beer is increasing ; but, while much strong 
drink is consumed, intoxication is not verv common. The 
best business men and the best laboring-men are habitu- 
ally temperate. Buildings are taxed but vacant land is 
nowhere taxed in Brazil. One may own acres of land in 
the city limits without ever having to pay a tax on it. 
What a happy place for real-estate dealers! — only that 
there is a tax of six per cent on the amount of considera- 
tion in every conveyance. 

The Brazilians are a very patriotic people. Some of 
the streets in the city bear as names the dates of impor- 
tant national events. There are several political as well 
as religious holidays, and they are generally ushered in 
by the discharge of fire-crackers and rockets, the noise 
of which sometimes continues with but little cessation 
through the day. 



EIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



41 



The Carnival seems to be losing something of its 
popularity. The higher classes at that time keep within- 
doors. The first reminder one has of the approaching 
festival is the appearance, on the Sunday preceding it, of 
boys, and especially mulattoes and blacks, in the streets, 
dressed in tight-fitting suits of red cloth with long tails 
and hoods, frequently masked, and who are called didbos y 
or devils. The real fun begins the afternoon before 
Carnival-day and continues during the day. People then 
have a good deal of sport, saluting even strangers with 
mock politeness, squirting perfumed water at each other, 
and throwing at whoever they think they can hit light 
waxen balls of water the size of a hen's egg. It is very 
funny, especially to those who do not get too much of a 
drenching. On these occasions passengers in the street- 
cars who are liable to be pelted from balconies, and people 
in the more crowded streets, do not want to have on their 
best clothes. Sometimes a cranky individual will resent 
the sport, and a lively little interchange of fisticuffs will 
be the result. But for the most part everything passes 
off in the best of humor, and mankind for a while seem 
like a happy family. The celebration winds up with a 
gorgeous torch-light procession of people of both sexes 
in rich fancy costumes, sometimes masked, drawn in 
highly decorated carriages. The male portion of the pro- 
cession is made up principally of the different social clubs 
whose organization is mostly for balls and other pleasure, 
and which adopt singular names, such as " Devil's Lieuten- 
ants," "Fenians," "Democrats." 

The ordinary diversions are such as are found in most 
large cities. There are several spacious theatres. Horse- 
racing is becoming frequent on Sundays and holidays, 
and occasionally there is a bull-fight. But there is among 



4:2 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



the higher-toned people a growing disposition to encour- 
age manly sports — rowing, ball-playing, and jumping. 
The exhibitions of the Athletic Club are attended by the 
imperial family and families of high social rank. "When 
business is good at Rio, some foreign opera company usu- 
ally performs at the Dom Pedro Segundo Theatre during 
the three cooler months — June, July, and August. On 
such occasions the Emperor and Empress are generally 
to be seen in the imperial box. Ladies sitting in the first 
tier of boxes, or dress-circle, are in full evening dress with- 
out bonnets ; if they sit in the parquet, they may wear 
bonnets. The performance does not begin till eight 
o'clock. There are long intermissions between the acts, 
when most of the men go out and smoke cigarettes — it 
is a cold day in Brazil w^hen there are no cigarettes — or 
take a cup of coffee, and the opera or play does not end 
till after midnight. The Dom Pedro Segundo Theatre 1 
very large. The Beethoven Club, with an Englishman 
at its head, is a valuable organization which provides sev- 
eral small and one or two grand concerts every season. 
With my family I attended two of its grand concerts in 
the Casino Hall, situated opposite the Public Garden. 
The music was of the highest order, and there was a 
large number of performers ; but there also the exercises 
were spun out to an intolerable length : indeed, between 
the second and third parts of one concert time was given 
for some of the performers to sit down to a table in a 
side-room and partake of an elaborate meal while the 
audience were lingering about and whiling away the time 
as best they could. However, during the ordinary inter- 
missions many of the audience move about through the 
ample corridors, or partake of refreshments which are for 
sale at buffets in the palm-bordered side-rooms. The 



EIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



43 



imperial family with their attendants were present , and 
sat, not with the audience, but in special chairs at one 
side. The hall of the Casino will hold several thousand 
people, and is finely proportioned, with a handsome gallery 
on each side, supported by fluted pillars, and is with its 
decorations an exceedingly beautiful hall. It is seldom 
used, and only for grand balls of high society and an oc- 
casional concert. 

Street begging is illegal and is pretty much suppressed, 
but there are certain people who are allowed to beg in 
the streets on Saturdays, making their regular rounds; 
their numerous visits are inconvenient, and I have ad- 
mired the patience with which shopkeepers go to the 
door and hand the poor one a copper. 

Passing one afternoon with a friend along Una Eva- 
rista de Veiga, the street on which the English church 
at Rio is situated, and which runs along the foot of the 
San Antonio Hill parallel with the front of the Public 
Garden, we came, when in sight of the high aqueduct 
arches, to the Foundling Hospital (Casa dos Expostos), 
into which we were admitted by a Sister of Charity. 
Annually about four hundred infants of unknown parent- 
age are secretly conveyed into this humane institution 
through what is popularly called " the wheel." Since its 
establishment it has received forty thousand such infants ! 
They are taken care of eight days, then put into private 
families for board at about five dollars a month each, 
until a year and a half old, after which two dollars a 
month are paid. About six thousand dollars a quarter are 
thus paid by the asylum for the children's outside board. 
When old enough to attend school, they are brought back 
to the institution, where they receive instruction till the 
age of twelve years, and then are sent to learn trades. A 



44 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION" AND PROSPECTS. 



little dower is given them when they marry. There are 
now forty children in the asylum receiving instruction. 
The building stands even with the sidewalk, and there is 
nothing in its exterior to mark its character save, perhaps, 
the place where the infants are deposited ; and this would 
not attract the notice of a casual passer-by, unacquainted 
with the building, because the opening in the wall is 
scarcely apparent. What looks like a narrow and slightly 
oval vertical panel in the wall set in a stone frame is the 
outer side of the " wheel," a sort of barrel-shaped revolv- 
ing dumb-waiter, with three open shelves on the interior 
side. The outer side fits close, and a firm push is required 
to make it turn and bring the shelves toward the street. 
When this is done, a foundling can be laid on one of the 
shelves ; and, as the wheel is again turned, it in a moment 
conveys the child within the walls of the asylum into 
what may be called the foundling reception room, and 
at the same time rings a very loud alarm-bell. A Sister 
of Charity or servant immediately comes and takes the 
foundling ; and in order to preserve its identity for any 
future purpose, a record is immediately made of the ex- 
act time it was received, its sex, appearance, and clothing. 
Sometimes the mother has pinned to its clothing the 
name she wishes it to bear, and this wish is usually re- 
spected. Nobody knows or cares to know who left the 
child. The very contrivance of the wheel is to afford 
secrecy. 

Many of the foundlings are sick when received, and 
from thirty to thirty-two per cent die, a smaller percent- 
age than in former years. The number received in for- 
mer times was also larger than at present, being from 
five hundred to six hundred per year, thus showing that, 
with the social improvement of the age, there is a decrease 



EIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



45 



of illegitimate births, notwithstanding the growth of the 
city. Many of the f oundlings are mulattoes ; and those 
which I saw, in a dormitory of thirty-two beds, were quite 
diminutive. There seemed scarcely to be a healthy-look- 
ing child among them. The room they were in had a 
quiet situation, with two windows, and, though large, the 
atmosphere was close. The beds were in neat iron cribs, 
with a muslin mosquito-bar for each. Slave-women are 
invariably employed as wet-nurses, it being the policy of 
the asylum not to employ in that capacity any of the 
mothers of the foundlings. A physician visits the asylum 
daily. It sometimes happens that parents wish to get their 
children back, and, under proper circumstances and by 
furnishing requisite proof of identity, they can do so. I 
was informed by the Lady Superior, who politely accom- 
panied us through the building, that there are now sixteen 
Sisters of Charity of the Order of Sao Vincent de Paulo 
living there and giving their services. It is a home for 
them during life, they being well cared for when no 
longer able for active duty. The institution was founded 
in 1738 by Komao de Mattos Duarte, and is so amply 
endowed that its own income is abundantly sufficient to 
meet all its expenses. Though plain outwardly, the 
building is very commodious and well finished ; all its 
floors are of polished hard wood of dark color, waxed. 
The room for the meetings of the board of administra- 
tion is quite large. On one of its walls are full-length 
portraits in oil of the founder, above mentioned, and of 
D. Luiza Roza Avondano Pereira, an important bene- 
factress of the institution. On another side are full- 
length portraits of the present Emperor and Empress of 
Brazil, and on the wall opposite them similar-sized por- 
traits of the Emperor's father and mother. The edifice 



46 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



lias a court in the center, with a flower-garden and fount- 
ain, and there is quite a piece of ground, belonging to 
the premises, extending up on the Sao Antonio Hill, for 
the recreation of the children. Indeed, the establishment 
has in its size, finish, and equipment most of the substan- 
tial qualities which affluence can provide ; and it can almost 
be said that the foundling deposited in the "wheel 5 ' 
enters a palace. The president of the board of directors 
is the present prime minister, being the same individual 
who is at the head of the administration of the great 
Santa Casa Hospital. There are foundling asylums also 
in the cities of Bahia and Pernambuco. 

About ten years ago, I visited a prison, in one of the 
smaller Protestant countries of Europe, where were fifty 
female convicts undergoing a life-sentence for the mur- 
der of their offspring. They were quietly and orderly 
working at spinning and weaving, but I remember dis- 
tinctly what a fixed expression of melancholy there was 
on their faces. "When I got home and was thinking the 
matter over, I thought I could not have rightly under- 
stood the director of the prison, that so many as fifty 
women were under sentence for child-murder, and wrote 
him to inquire if I was right. He replied that I had not 
misunderstood him. I can not but believe that institu- 
tions like this foundling hospital tend greatly to prevent 
crime. They certainly prevent the practice of leaving 
infants on door-steps. 

In several of the provincial capitals there are asylums 
for girls, under charge of Sisters of Charity, and which ap- 
pear to have been founded by private beneficence. The 
Asylum of Purity, established in 1874, in the province of 
Sergipe, for the support, protection, and education of neg- 
lected orphan girls, has a fund of five thousand dollars, 



RIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



47 



and receives annually, by vote of the provincial legislature, 
about two thousand dollars. The inmates, of whom there 
are now twenty-seven, receive instruction in the common 
branches, as well as sewing and house-work, and remain 
till they are eighteen years of age, when in case of mar- 
riage each one receives a dower of one hundred and twenty 
dollars in money, and an outfit of the value of eighty dollars. 

Epiphany is one of the days of the Catholic Church 
kept with as much strictness as a New England Sunday, 
though it come on a week-day. I took that day to visit, 
with my family, the immense hospital called Saneta Casa 
de Misericordia, or Holy House of Mercy. It is the hos- 
pital into which all sick seamen (if the disease be not con- 
tagious), of whatever nationality, are received, and treated 
gratuitously (the port charges, which foreign vessels pay, 
are ample to cover such expenses), as well as the poor of 
the city. It is richly endowed, and generally well admin- 
istered. The nurses, who likewise mix the medicines, 
are Sisters of Charity, of different nationalities. As I had 
visited the hospital several times previously, I did not on 
this occasion enter the sick-wards, though in passing the 
doors could look in. We were taken into the kitchen and 
prescription-room, both spacious and neat ; also up-stairs 
into a chapel, for which large space in every such institu- 
tion is devoted ; also into a council-chamber or hall, on 
whose walls were many poorly painted portraits. There 
was also a full-sized plaster statue of the Emperor, though 
it struck me a statue of the benevolent founder of the in- 
stitution, and not in plaster either, would have been more 
appropriate. However, there is in the reception-room a 
marble bust of the founder. This hospital furnishes quar- 
ters in a neighboring building for one or two hundred 
orphan children. It is a splendid establishment, but too 



48 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



large to suit modern sanitary ideas, and its beds and pil- 
lows are very hard. 

Among other institutions winch we visited during our 
residence at Rio was the Blind Asylum, situated in Campa 
S. Anna. It is a Government institution, the only one 
in Brazil, with fifty pupils ; occupies rented premises, and 
receives an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars 
a year. A few of the pupils speak, read, and write both 
Portuguese and French, also play on the piano, and sing. 
There is a brass band composed of pupils. Some of th 
needlework of the women is ingenious. 

There is a fairly respectable art-gallery at Rio, whic 
is visited on some holidays by a few hundred people ; but 
the collection is inferior to what a foreigner would ex- 
pect in a city so large, and which for a century has been 
the seat of a royal or imperial dynasty. There is some 
pretension of imparting free instruction in painting ; but 
I got the impression that the privileges of instruction 
there, and at the Conservatory of Music, are not much 
sought after. 

The principal and most modern supply of water comes 
a distance of thirty miles from the mountain rivers Sao 
Antonio and d'Ouro. It was estimated that the minimum 
supply of the aqueduct from these streams would be thirty 
million litres in twenty-four hours, but the Minister of 
Agriculture and Public "Works, when he visited the reser- 
voir Pedregulho on the 21st of August, 1884, found the 
supply to be only sixteen million litres in twenty-four 
hours. The oldest aqueduct is the Carioca, which brings 
water from heights between the Corcovado and Tijuca 
Mountains, a distance of eight miles. About ten million 
dollars in all have been expended for Rio's supply of water, 
which is a small sum to extend over two centuries, and 



KIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



49 



for so large and so rich a city, and one which has been so 
liable to dangerous epidemics. The water comes from 
clear mountain-streams, and is good, but is not as abundant 
as it ought to be. Several fountains have recently been 
built in some of the squares of the city, but they are dry 
nearly the year round. Rio ought to be as well supplied 
with water as Home, where in scores of fountains one sees 
water enough to carry a mill, a part of which is brought 
in aqueducts built in the time of the old republic. Some 
of the water for Paris is now brought a hundred miles. 

The scheme of building a bridge across the Bay of Rio 
de Janeiro to connect the city with ISTictheroy has been 
advocated by capable engineers for several years, and by 
the president of the province in his annual report, includ- 
ing the latest. The shortest distance across is from the 
Benedictine Hill in Rio to the hill of Armacao in Nic- 
theroy — two miles and three quarters ; and the president 
states that a bridge suitable for tramways, vehicles, and 
foot-passsengers, and having a draw for big vessels, could 
be built for six million dollars. 

To see Rio in the glory of its tropical summer, one 
should go there in our winter months, though perhaps the 
safest time for Americans to be there would be from May 
to September. That would be the winter season at Rio, 
the most of which is like our pleasant summer weather. 
There are then many nights when three blankets are not 
too much cover. 

With regard to the yellow fever, I would state that 
with my family I have passed three continuous hot sea- 
sons in the city without any of us incurring it. During 
the first few months of its prevalence I felt a little nerv- 
ous about it. The consular office was in the level business 
center, and was sometimes visited by seamen in the incipi- 
5 



50 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



ent stage of the disease ; but as our residence was in one of 
the most salubrious parts of the city, we gradually became 
unconcerned about it, and went and came day and even- 
ing in any part of the city without apprehension, and, as 
it proved, without danger. Our diet was the same as it 
would be in the United States. The yellow fever is not 
necessarily a fatal disease, unless there be inherent weak- 
ness of the constitution. The great preventives are to 
avoid excess in respect to exposure, fatigue, and diet. The 
first remedies are important yet simple. As soon as one 
has the symptoms, which are severe pain in the head and 
back, the approved practice is to go to bed, take a big 
dose of castor-oil, and after that has had effect, aconite in 
water to produce sweat. Good nursing, and especially 
watching in the night, with frequent ice and milk, and 
iced Seltzer-water, are important. Most frequently the 
fatal cases are where single men or others lodge in apart- 
ments alone, and become very ill before any friend or ac- 
quaintance knows their condition. I do not think much 
confidence is felt at Rio in the system of inoculation 
against yellow fever, and which is but slightly in vogue 
there. Usually a few deaths from the disease are reported 
in December, and the mortality increases till into March 
and April, which are the worst months. There was a bad 
epidemic in 1883 ; another, though lighter, in 1884 ; still 
lighter in 1885; but worse, again, in 1886. The deaths 
from yellow fever for the first half of 1886 were nine 
hundred and sixty-seven. There is a public yellow-fever 
hospital, called Juru juba, situated on the shore of a distant 
inlet on the opposite side of the bay from Rio. If a sea- 
man on any vessel is sick with the fever, a yellow flag is 
hoisted and a public health-boat comes and takes him to 
the hospital. 



EIO AND ITS PEOPLE. 



51 



For a few years back a regulation of the port of Rio 
has required all vessels arriving in the hot season to an- 
chor, discharge and load cargo at least a mile from shore, 
which has had a remarkably good effect in keeping the 
yellow fever from the shipping, but adds greatly to the 
expense of transportation. 

On account of a certain dampness in the atmosphere 
of Eio, there is more mortality from consumption than 
from yellow fever. The deaths from consumption in 
June, 1886, were one hundred and fifty. Dr. James A. 
Stewart, M. D., Commissioner of Health and Registrar for 
the city of Baltimore, writing me under date of December 
15, 1884, said: "The mortuary reports of the city of 
Rio de Janeiro, which I have had the pleasure to receive 
from you for some time past, have greatly interested me 
on account of the surprising preponderance of pulmonary 
consumption over all other causes of death. "We have 
evidently been making a great mistake in sending our 
consumptive patients to Rio for relief.' 5 



CHAPTER IV. 



LIFE AND MAOTTEKS. 

At our residence up in Rua das Larangeiras, two miles 
from the busiest part of the city, Sundays, and especially 
Sunday mornings, seemed as quiet as they are in the Unit- 
ed States. To me those mornings, so tranquil, so clear 
and sunny, were generally very charming. Foliage-cov- 
ered hills behind and in front of the house gave the 
place a country aspect. The wren, and numerous other 
small birds, in some tall trees in the door-yard, made the 
air vocal with their notes. But sometimes, and as if to 
show a certain laxness of affairs, the discordant report of 
a musket would come from one of the hills, where a mis- 
chievous boy was hunting birds. As a rule, Sunday is a 
quiet day at Rio, though many retail shops are kept open, 
and some kinds of out-door labor carried on. Billiard- 
rooms and other places of amusement are more frequented 
then than on week-days. Though Brazil is a Catholic 
country, religious liberty is declared in the Constitution, 
and exists practically in the principal cities. A Protestant 
/ at Rio, wishing to attend public religious worship, would 
find several churches on a respectable footing. The Chapel 
of the Church of England is a building which will com- 
fortably seat several hundred people, has a good organ, 
and is frequented by a fair congregation composed of 
British subjects and Americans. The preaching is by 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



53 



Eev. Frederick Young, A. M., an able and attentive pas- 
tor. The Presbyterian church, dates back many years, 
and has a numerous membership among the native poorer 
class. The church building is spacious, the services are 
in the Portuguese language, and the singing is congrega- 
tional. It is mainly supported by the American Pres- 
byterian Missionary Society, and the American pastors 
are Eev. Messrs. Houston and Kyle. An able Brazilian 
preaches Sunday evenings. The Presbyterians also have 
a church at Bahia and at several other places. The 
Methodists, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
who for some time held services in their neat chapel 
about opposite the Strangers' Hotel, have lately built a 
fine church edifice adjoining the chapel, where religious 
exercises and Sunday-school are held in English in the 
morning, and in Portuguese in the evening. The pastors, 
Revs. J. J. Ransom (temporarily at Juiz de Fora) and 
J. L. Kennedy, preach in both languages. The Baptists 
also have a church, under the charge of Rev. W. B. Bag- 
by. All these pastors whose names I have mentioned 
have their families living at Rio, and command respect. 
Mr. Ransom is a preacher of unusual eloquence. The 
Methodists are looking forward to have an important 
young ladies' school established at Rio, under their au- 
spices. The Woman's Missionary Society, of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, of which Mrs. Juliana 
Hayes, of Baltimore, is president, undertook to raise a 
fund of fifty thousand dollars for a young ladies' school 
in Brazil, to serve as a centenary monument of the 
Methodist Church. Over half of the amount had been 
raised in 1885. I might here say that there are perhaps 
two hundred Americans residing at Rio ; the proportion 
of English, French, and Germans is much larger — of 



54 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



course the largest separate foreign element is the Portu- 
guese. 

I should say that a vast majority of the population of 
Rio are indifferent to religious matters. One effect of 
the increase of Protestant churches in Brazil will be an 
awakening of the Catholic Church. There is nothing 
more beneficial than competition. At present the Catho- 
lic Church in Brazil is in a feeble state. But there are 
many of the best Brazilian families who are religious, and 
who, by a posture of devotion before a meal or other act, 
manifest a thoughtfulness of religion. Seven days after 
the death of a near relative, the whole family attends a 
special mass at church, and another at the anniversary 
of the death. There is not preaching, however, regularly 
in the Catholic churches on Sundays. The Catholic 
priests are poorly paid. As an intellectual force they 
amount to but very little, and do not have that considera- 
tion which the Catholic clergy enjoy in Protestant coun- 
tries. After the Protestant Church gets well established 
in Brazil, and church-attendance becomes as popular as 
it is in England and the United States, the Catholic 
Church will very likely exert a more elevating influence 
than it now does. A Brazilian official told Mr. Cham- 
berlain, the Presbyterian missionary at Sao Paulo, that he 
wished he would spread his religion, citing the influence 
of an old Brazilian citizen, of local influence, living in a 
remote country place in the province of Sao Paulo, who 
had been converted to the Presbyterian faith and held 
prayer-meetings in his house, and from whose district no 
crimes were reported. 

In the larger cities, where there is more than ordi- 
nary intelligence, the Protestant missionaries are pretty 
sure of peaceable treatment ; but occasionally, in remote 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



55 



places, they meet at first with rude opposition from the 
lower classes. However, the men of influence generally 
have that national pride that leads them to interpose in 
case of any excess, and guarantee the missionary protec- 
tion in the exercise of freedom of speech and worship. 

In the truly disciplined Brazilian family are some pe- 
culiar customs. When evening comes, the members of 
the family bid each other "hoa noite" — literally, " good- 
night." They may be sitting at dinner, and, on the 
lights being lit, it is a reminder that evening has come. 
Then they exchange this salutation, and the children rise 
and kiss the hands of their parents. This custom is in- 
herited from the Portuguese, and is more generally ob- 
served in the country than in the city. If it be the 
father whom the children address, they say, " A hencao, 
men pai" — "Your blessing, father!" The patriarchal 
and religious usage of children kissing the hands of their 
parents at night and morning, and when meeting after an 
absence, even after they are grown up, is observed in 
cultured families. And out of the family circle, people 
sometimes kiss the hands of those much above them in 
rank and age. I once saw a fashionable Brazilian lady 
and grown daughter meet and speak with a priest in the 
street, and the daughter kissed the priest's hand. In 
passing a church, three or four men out of twenty in a 
street-car will raise their hats. They do not regard it as 
superstition, but as a delicate expression of religious senti- 
ment. So, when a funeral is met, men usually lift their 
hats as the hearse passes them. There are but few re- 
ligious processions in the street. The Emperor and cabi- 
net ministers walk in that of Corpus Christi, but it com- 
mands few marks of reverence from the masses ; on the 
contrary, it is generally obstructed by a dense crowd of 



56 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



gazers. The attendance at funerals is principally of male 
friends. Ladies, even nearest relatives, do not accom- 
pany tlie remains to the place of burial. Male friends, 
however, in large numbers, make it a point to attend the 
funeral with a carriage at their own expense, and to drive 
to the grave. Many funeral processions comprise forty 
or more two-mule open carriages, driven at a rapid pace, 
and containing, often, but one man, who not unlikely 
will be smoking. 

Thursday and Saturday afternoons are popular times 
for weddings, which have this peculiarity, that the car- 
riages are lined with white satin, and are drawn by 
beautiful white horses used only on such occasions. Mar- 
riage is a religious institution, though there is some agita- 
tion for making the rite valid as a civil contract. 

The Brazilians, though a grave people, have consider- 
able humor. As an example — though a homely one — the 
sneezing of a goat, of which there are many at Rio, is re- 
garded as a sign of fair weather. Sometimes, when a per- 
son sneezes, the by-stander laughingly says, " We will have 
good weather." They are, likewise, a benevolent people. 
It is not very uncommon, when a family of children have 
been left orphans, for an uncle or some near relative to 
adopt them ail into his house, and provide for and treat 
them as members of his own family. Although the Bra- 
zilians observe a number of religious holidays, they fortu- 
nately are not without some political or national holidays. 
It is useful for a people to pause, once a year at least, and 
think of their forefathers. " A people," said Mr. Burke, 
"will never look forward to posterity w T ho never look 
backward to their ancestors." The anniversary of the in- 
dependence of the empire is the 7th of September, and, 
though it may occur on Sunday, as did the sixty-third 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



57 



anniversary, in 1884, the Brazilians do not, on that ac- 
count, postpone the customary commemorative exercises 
till the next day. Indeed, the official exercises are partly 
religious and partly secular. The observance of the 
sixty-third anniversary began as usual at the capital by an 
artillery salute at daybreak, and the playing of the na- 
tional hymn by several bands of music around the bronze 
equestrian statue of the founder of the empire, Dom 
Pedro I, in the park Constitution, which was illumi- 
nated, decorated with flags and streamers, and which had 
been thronged with people all night. The forts in the 
harbor also thundered forth a salute in the morning, at 
1 p. m., and again at 6 p. m. ; the ships of war, national 
and foreign, doing the same. The imperial family at- 
tended the service of Te Deum at the imperial chapel at 
noon, and at 1 p. m. held a reception in the old city palace 
(which is close to the chapel, but three miles from the 
Emperor's residence), which was attended by a large 
gathering of civil, military, and naval officers, repre- 
sentatives of literary, scientific, and benevolent socie- 
ties, and by private individuals. The diplomatic body, 
through its ranking member, the Pope's nuncio, pre- 
sented a congratulatory address. The seventh battalion 
of infantry served as a guard of honor. On this occasion 
it was noticed that when the Emperor and Empress ar- 
rived at the palace, loud cheers were given for the Em- 
peror and independence, owing partly, probably, to the 
anti-slavery enthusiasm of the time. The same afternoon 
the Emperor and Empress, and the Princess Imperial, with 
her husband, Count d'Eu, were present at a meeting of 
the Working Union, in the theatre of San Luiz, where a 
senator presided ; an elaborate discourse was pronounced, 
several pieces of music executed ; a poem, dedicated to the 



58 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Empress, recited ; also an address delivered by the foreman 
of tlie government macliine-sliops. In the evening the 
imperial family attended an opera performance. During 
the day a regatta took place, on a small scale, in a newly 
opened boat-rink, bands of music played in the public 
parks, and sixteen hundred persons visited the exhibition 
of the Academy of Fine Arts, 'No oration was delivered 
on the memories of the day, yet there was one elaborate 
political address made by a leading abolitionist, under the 
auspices of the Abolition Society, his subject being " The 
Cause of the Decadency of Brazil." There were fewer 
fireworks than usual on festival- days, and good order 
prevailed. Flags were displayed very generally. The 
weather was perfect. 

I suppose that the three countries in which popular 
government has shown* the greatest vigor are England, 
France, and the United States ; and these are about the 
only countries in which the bar has had free scope, 
and occupied high rank. Great constitutional prin- 
ciples have often had their noblest defense in the 
forum. Although the legal profession is esteemed in 
Brazil, and there are learned lawyers, there is not that 
opportunity for the public discussion of legal questions 
that there is in the countries mentioned. In all civil 
cases, legal arguments are submitted in writing. There 
are two largely attended law-schools, one at Pernambuco 
and the other at Sao Paulo, both being supported by 
public money. On my visit to the library of the school 
at Sao Paulo, I took particular notice to see what English 
or American law-books there were, and was surprised to 
find that these great founts of jurisprudence were repre- 
sented by about half a dozen antiquated and unimportant 
volumes. There is no public law library at Rio. In the 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



59 



National Library, the only edition of Blaekstone's " Com- 
mentaries " is in French. It seems to me the legal pro- 
fession of Brazil is ignorant of English jurisprudence. 
It has never felt even the spray of the great fountain of 
English legal literature, much less quaffed its living 
waters. However, the higher tribunals command general 
respect. 

How would American or English physicians be likely 
to succeed at Kio ? The first part of this question has 
been addressed to me by a correspondent ; and my an- 
swer is that, assuming them to be persons of real skill 
and merit, they would in time meet with fair and possibly 
brilliant success. They would, however, at first meet 
with great competition, the medical profession at Eio 
being crowded. Whatever might have been their pre- 
vious training and experience, and however distinguished 
the diplomas they might bring, they would still have to 
undergo a rigid examination conducted in the Portuguese 
language, to test their qualifications for practice. Neither 
could they expect to receive the slightest degree of favor, 
but, on the contrary, they would be subjected to treat- 
ment exacting, jealous, and suspicious. The same will 
apply to all foreigners who undertake to enter any of the 
professions, including that of dentistry. 

Yery few physicians drive in a private conveyance to 
visit their patients, and none support stylish equipages ; 
they sometimes go in the street-cars, but generally in a 
public one-horse chaise. Their usual charge for a day- 
visit is ten-milreis, at present exchange about four dollars, 
and double that amount for a night-visit. There are two 
English physicians at Eio who have a good practice, but 
there is no American physician. 

The American dentist holds his own in Kio just as he 



60 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



does in all other large foreign cities. There are half a 
dozen such dentists who have a good practice, clearing 
twenty-odd dollars a day, but working very hard to do so. 
One of these dentists, a young man, popular professionally 
and socially, related to me some funny experience he had 
at a social visit to one of his genteel patients, and which 
illustrates the humor and freedom of Brazilian society. 
It was an evening party given by a young married couple. 
The gentlemen were out on the garden veranda smoking 
and drinking healths. Presently the young host proposed 
the health of the dentist, when, instead of exclaiming 
" Viva ! " they all put their hands up to their faces and 
began to scream, as if undergoing a terrible dental opera- 
tion. 

There are two large medical schools in Brazil under 
the control of and supported in part by the Government ; 
one being in the city of Bahia, and the other at Rio de 
Janeiro. A new and very fine medical school-building of 
granite is being erected at Rio, on Botafogo Bay, com- 
manding a grand view of the harbor. The course of 
study at the medical schools occupies eight years. The 
graduation is a gala occasion. The students who graduate 
wear black silk gowns, white cravats, and black university 
caps. Accompanied by their near relatives, who, with 
them, have looked forward for so many years to this their 
triumphal day, and who now share with them its joys, 
they drive in fine carriages to church and attend a solemn 
mass. And for my part I admire to see ceremonies of 
solemnity accompany the admission of people to this noble 
and important profession. Neither in city nor country is 
the Brazilian physician allowed to deal out and deliver 
medicine. He must write a prescription, and the pre- 
scription must be filled by a licensed druggist, who re- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



cords the prescription and labels the medicine with its 
name and character. In the country, where a physician 
often rides horseback twenty miles to visit a patient, this 
practice may be very inconvenient. The patient can 
grow much worse or better before obtaining medicine. 

Surgeons, in Brazil, who have performed successful 
operations have frequently been very liberally paid ; and 
there are some who accumulate fortunes. There is a 
small medical periodical at Rio. 

Marriage in Brazil is still regarded as a religious cere- 
mony and not as a civil contract. To be valid it must, 
therefore, be performed by a duly authorized clergyman. 
If one or both of the parties be of a religion other than 
the Catholic, the marriage may be celebrated by a duly 
authorized pastor or clergyman of such non-Catholic relig- 
ion, but in every case must be legally registered ; also, 
prior to celebration, the intention of its being celebrated 
must be publicly announced in the church on three Sun- 
days, or published. Those belonging to the Catholic 
Church are, of course, married by the clergy of that 
church; but, in the larger cities, and especially in the 
provinces of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, owing to the 
presence of American missionaries as well as of clergymen 
of the Church of England, Protestants would readily ob- 
tain the services of some minister of that faith. 

Americans abroad sometimes suppose that a diplomatic 
or consular officer of their country can perform the mar- 
riage ceremony; but such is not the case. It is usual, 
however, and in conformity with regulations, for the mar- 
riage of an American abroad to be performed before and 
in the presence of the consular officer. In such case he 
also signs the record of the marriage as a witness. He 
also, at request of the parties, afterward furnishes a cer- 



62 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



tificate of the marriage, setting forth the names, ages, 
places of birth of the parties, who the marriage was per- 
formed by, where, and when ; a copy of which he delivers 
to each one of the married couple, and the other he sends 
to the Department of State, Washington. 

It seems that British consular officers in Brazil have 
authority to perform the marriage ceremony; and it is 
not unusual for British subjects to be first married at 
their consulate and then again by a clergyman. 

Some inconvenience has arisen in the province of Bio 
Grande do Sul, from notaries public having illegally as- 
sumed to marry a dozen or twenty couples of non-Catholic 
German immigrants. As a matter of course, the Brazilian 
Government, through its Minister of the Empire, had to 
declare that the marriages were illegal, though the parties 
who w r ere married were innocent of any wrong intention, 
had cohabited for some years, and had children born to 
them. The marriages could be legalized by the Legisla- 
ture. 

Any foreigner living in Brazil and wishing to make a 
will must mate it, not according to the laws of his own 
country, but according to the laws of Brazil, so far as re- 
gards any property, real or personal, of his that may be in 
Brazil at the time of his death. His will must conform 
to the Brazilian law of inheritance. According to such 
law, a testator can dispose of one third of all his property 
as he pleases ; but he is obliged to give one third to his 
widow and one third to his children. If he leaves no 
will, one half of the property goes to the wife — in case 
there had been no previous marriage settlement — and the 
other half equally to the children. The estate which a 
deceased foreigner may leave in Brazil, whether real or 
personal, and whether he leaves a will or not, has to be 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



63 



settled by the orphans' court. The consular officer of his 
country is allowed to examine the list of property and 
watch the proceedings, and that is all. The taxes and 
charges to which such property is subjected are regarded 
as exceedingly exorbitant. A Brazilian in Bio worth four 
hundred thousand dollars was lately struck by a falling 
piece of timber and suddenly killed. He had made no 
will, yet left two illegitimate sons to whom he was much 
attached, but who received no part of his property. 

Debts due druggists, physicians, and the clergy are 
privileged. Tradesmen readily extend credit to mechan- 
ics and laborers to the amonnt of half their wages. In 
wholesale trade the cash buyer gains a very considerable 
advantage. In the dry-goods trade, for example, a credit 
of twelve months is granted, but if the purchaser pays 
cash he will get twelve to fourteen per cent discount. 
Generally all products of the country are sold for cash or 
on three months' credit. Coffee is a cash article. Fresh 
meat, fresh fish, and mechanical work command cash. In 
imports, salt, lumber, petroleum, copper, lead, and codfish 
are cash articles. Flour is sold at six months' credit, or 
cash at six per cent discount. There is a tendency to 
increase the list of cash articles. There is a system of 
amicable adjudication in which a plaintiff at the court of 
first instance or of original jurisdiction obtains judgment 
for so much of a claim to be paid monthly. If a debtor 
fails so to pay, appeal can be had to a higher court, which 
gives judgment for the whole amount. Business is gen- 
erally conservative, and conducted with that steady and 
economical spirit which is characteristic of the Portu- 
guese. The accumulation of great fortunes is not of fre- 
quent occurrence. There is a permanent and general 
bankrupt law. Bankruptcy that is settled according to 



64: BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



legal forms is not frequent; but failures attended with 
private settlement are frequent. The long-credit system 
of Brazil, though a relic of old and slow business times, 
has naturally been fostered by the great extent of the 
country and the difficulties of communication. It is a 
subject of frequent complaint in all business circles. 

An official Brazilian report made in 1881, treating of 
the interior of the province of Maranham, says : " Who- 
ever has seen one of our villages has seen all, because, un- 
happily, in all is noticed an absolute lack of taste in the 
construction of the dwellings, showing yet more promi- 
nently the indolence and misery which everywhere pre- 
vail. To a visitor our interior looks like an old and aban- 
doned country, where everything is going to decay, and 
the common necessaries of life are not to be met with." 
M. Andrade, the president of the province, in his mes- 
sage to the Legislative Assembly, February, 1884, says, 
" To speak frankly, what is needful is to wrest this noble 
province from the lethargy which oppresses it." This is 
the province at which the American steamers first touch, 
on their way to Rio, after leaving Para. Its natural 
resources are important. It contains several navigable 
rivers, and most of the population is in towns along their 
banks. A civil engineer of Brazil, whose home is in this 
province, in giving me a description of the rivers, and of 
the finely wooded and fertile tracts accessible therefrom, 
rather dampened the delightful impression I had got from 
his statements, by telling me, in answer to a direct ques- 
tion, that he had once seen one of those big, cattle-swallow- 
ing serpents, the anaconda, swimming along in one of 
these rivers. " There is an abundance of good land, but 
the chief obstacle to its cultivation," writes a resident of 
the province, is " the want of proper roads and an enter- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



65 



prising population to open the country, and better legis- 
lation for inducing and facilitating immigration." 

The province of Ceara is remarkable for the famine 
which occurred there a few years ago. "Industry and 
trade generally, in the province," writes Mr. George Hol- 
derness, American consular agent at the port of Ceara, 
in 1884, "have made no progress since 1877, the begin- 
ning of the great drought. Emigration f rom the prov- 
ince, which commenced then, has since continued in an 
increasing degree, up to the beginning of 1884." It is 
estimated that the number of Cearense, who emigrated to 
the province of Amazonas, alone, amounted to thirty thou- 
sand, many of whom found a grave on the banks of the 
Amazon. The interior of the province is thinly peopled, 
and a state of desolation prevails. The agricultural class 
in the interior are represented as having no means of rec- 
reation to speak of. Horseback-riding is the only exer- 
cise they take. For amusement the men play cards, and 
also play on the viola or guitar. There is no national game 
among the boys. The poor people have been benefited 
by the export of goat-skins, a trade started recently. Over 
two hundred thousand of these were shipped to the United 
States in 1884, and nearly as many to Europe. The ex- 
port of oranges to the United States has lately commenced. 
The principal export from Ceara is cotton, of which ten 
million pounds were exported in 1884. The interior is 
mostly composed of highlands, which are used for cattle- 
breeding. Since the white settlements began, there have 
been four or five fatal droughts there, the last and one 
of the worst of which occurred in 1877-1878. The two 
previous years there had been an excess of rain. By 
March, 1877, the bishop ordered prayers in all the churches 
for rain. Weeks and months passed, while the situation 



66 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



was growing worse. The crops failed, and by April and 
May the poorer people began to flock to the villages for 
food. The forage had disappeared, and the stock-raisers 
began to slaughter their cattle for their hides and tallow. 
There was local relief as long as the generously disposed 
had the means. Some provisions were brought in from 
neighboring provinces on the backs of animals. Such 
relief, of course, could only be very limited. The terri- 
tory was then, and is now, so unprovided with good roads 
and means of transportation, that a drought, which under 
different circumstances could have been tided over with- 
out much suffering, reached there and then the propor- 
tions of a tragic and melancholy famine. By the middle 
of 1877 many thousands of the interior inhabitants were 
fleeing, half naked and in a state of destitution, toward 
the coast cities. Many perished on the way, but many 
thousands more, who arrived at places where there was 
food, subsequently died of disease. Probably it is quite 
within bounds to estimate the mortality in the province, 
from the famine, at two hundred thousand. The General 
Assembly of Brazil finally voted a large sum of money for 
the relief of the destitution. 

An observing friend, who recently traveled in the 
province of Parana, has given me his impressions of the 
condition and manners of the people there. In his opin- 
ion, the natural fertility of the soil tends to make the in- 
habitants indolent. Each head of a family plants a small 
plot of ground, whose produce may last a year. He does 
not try to do more. He does not raise crops for the mar- 
ket. Nearly all of the commerce of the province is in 
the yerba mate but even this they do not cultivate. It 
grows wild, and the people who bring it to town do so 
from the necessity of having to procure certain neces- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



67 



saries. The higher class is also indolent, going to bed 
early and rising late. What gives life to the town is 
the coming and going of the colonists in selling milk and 
other small things. There are scarcely any amusements. 
On Sundays people have balls, and now and then church 
festivals. The feeling toward immigrants and foreigners 
is kind. Ouritiba, the capital, is perhaps the only place 
in the empire where Protestants have been allowed to 
build a house of worship with the exterior of a church, 
namely, with a church-steeple. The work was stopped by 
the Government, on account of being against the law, 
but the local sentiment tolerated it, and the church has 
been completed. The houses at Curitiba are built of 
brick or pine-wood, principally of the latter, and the 
roofs are shingled wdth the native pine. The furniture 
is made of the same. 

Young women marry at different ages, from thirteen 
years upward. If the parents are rich, they give a dower; 
otherwise, they merely furnish the wedding outfit, con- 
sisting of considerable clothing and linen. Young women 
of the middle class, besides helping in the work of 
the house, devote themselves to sewing and sometimes 
even washing and ironing. There are few books which 
a young girl can read in Brazil, because, as a rule, the 
novels are not of a very high moral tone. There are no 
story-books, or anything of the sort, for the young ; they 
either read nothing, or else read novels in books or from 
newspapers. 

There is a normal school at Curitiba, kept in a 
pretty good building, but its furniture is scanty. There 
are a few maps on the wall, one or two blackboards, and 
nothing more. The library is not small, but the books 
are of little value, and apparently were donated by per- 



68 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



sons who wished to get rid of them. There is a private 
school kept by the German pastor in the German Prot- 
estant church, with a large attendance. The seats are 
mere benches. 

The dress of the people is in the same style as at Bio, 
except that perhaps the people are not so particular as to 
cleanliness and good material. 

The surface in Parana is divided into two distinct 
portions, the coast belt and the interior table-land. As- 
cending the mountains, forest-covered, we come to a 
table-land entirely flat, at an elevation of three thousand 
feet, and which is studded here and there with pine-for- 
ests. Going from Paranagua to Curitiba, the scenery is 
very beautiful and grand. 

Mr. Bigg-Wither, an English engineer employed two 
or three years on a railway survey in the wilds of Pa- 
rana, describes, in his interesting work, " Pioneering in 
South Brazil," a visit in 1872 to the home of a Brazilian 
landed proprietor, who represented a type of the ordinary 
backwoods planter and stock-raiser, but who at that date 
was a generation — one would think a century — behind 
the intelligent and cultivated class of planters. Mr. Bigg- 
Wither, traveling with assistants and supplies loaded on 
mules, had got within about a day's march of his destined 
headquarters, Colonia Thereza, in the great forest-covered 
valley of the Ivahy. He says : " We followed Sr. An- 
drade into the house, and found ourselves in a little tim- 
ber-built room, of about fourteen feet by twelve feet, 
with doors in each of the walls opening into other 
apartments, whose mysteries will presently be explained. 
Benches were ranged all around the walls, with the excep- 
tion of the spaces left for the doorways. The floor was 
the bare earth, beaten hard, and on it stood, in the mid- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



69 



die of the room, one solitary table. There were no win- 
dows, and when the door was shut, the light could only 
come in through the chinks in the walls and roof, which, 
however, seemed large enough to render further provision 
for light and air unnecessary. Bound these walls, which 
were all built of timbers similar in shape to an ordinary 
railway-sleeper, the convex side being outward, were 
hung all the paraphernalia which pertained to the every- 
day occupations of the inmates. Lassos, whips, spurs, 
saddles and bridles, weak-looking guns, and tawdry pis- 
tols, took up most of the available space, and indicated 
accurately enough what was the life led by our host and 
the male portion of his family. The door opposite the 
entrance by which we had come in was open, disclosing 
a lean-to shed, in which an atrociously ugly negress was 
engaged in crushing coffee with a wooden pestle and 
mortar. The door on the right opened into a second 
lean-to shed, in which, through the interstices of the wall, 
appeared a fire on the ground, with various pots and 
pans around it, over which a young and good-looking girl 
was presiding. This information we obtained inadver- 
tently, and evidently not altogether with the consent of 
Sr. Andrade, by our happening to advance farther into 
the room than was intended, and thus obtaining a full 
view of this domestic apartment and of its occupant 
through the open door. The third door was of better 
make than the ones referred to, and was furnished with a 
lock and key. 

" Our host's first act, after offering us seats, one on 
either side of the entrance, was to present a cigarette, 
made of tobacco rolled up in an Indian-corn leaf, to each, 
to light which a young, half -naked slave-boy appeared on 
the scene and handed round a brand out of the fire. The 



70 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



senhora, a cheerful, motherly-looking old lady, now came 
into the room, and added her welcomes to those already 
given by her husband. Pedro, who seemed to be more 
or less a privileged person in the house, had a short con- 
versation with her, and she went out and presently re- 
turned, accompanied by the negress, bearing a large 
wooden bowl full of delicious-looking new milk, a bever- 
age which Pedro had no doubt told her would be an ac- 
ceptable offering to us. After the milk, coffee in tiny 
cups was brought in and handed round to "us by the 
senhora herself. When we had in this manner taken off 
the edge of our fatigues, conversation began, Pedro act- 
ing as interpreter. . . . Andrade himself was an old man 
of about sixty years, and allowed his wife to do most of the 
talking for him when she was in the room. One of her 
first questions was to know whether we were married ; 
and, on hearing that we were still in the full enjoyment 
of our freedom, she proceeded to enlarge upon the de- 
lights of a married life, informing us, at the same time, 
that she had five unmarried daughters ! After this pretty 
broad hint of what was expected of us, we of course ex- 
pressed a wish to then and there make the acquaintance 
of these fair members of the family. Her face became 
suddenly grave when this request was translated to her 
by Pedro, and for a moment her flow of words was 
stopped, and I feared that a mistake had been inad- 
vertently made. She looked hesitatingly at her husband, 
who had remained silently puffing at his cigarette during 
this conversation, and he said something which we did 
not understand, but which had the effect of at once dis- 
pelling her momentary gravity. The old man got up, 
and, going to the locked door and turning the key, opened 
it and disappeared into a dark chamber within. Almost 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



71 



immediately, however, he returned, saying, 'The girls 
are not accustomed to see strangers, and are afraid.' 
Meanwhile, the senhora, who was now evidently deter- 
mined that her daughters should show themselves, had, 
in her turn, disappeared into the secret chamber, from 
which various sounds of whispering and suppressed gig- 
gling were now proceeding. Presently the senhora re- 
appeared, leading one very modest-looking damsel of 
about eighteen or nineteen years of age, and closely fol- 
lowed by three others, apparently somewhat younger. 
All appeared to be overwhelmed with intense shyness, 
and an almost hysterical desire to laugh. After a formal 
and separate introduction of each one — be it noted that 
the lady was here introduced to the gentleman — they all 
retired back again into the secret chamber, and their papa 
once more turned the key upon them. At this time we 
were ignorant of the custom, which I afterward found to 
be so general in these out-of-the-way parts, of keeping 
the women, or rather the daughters, of tfte family, locked 
up like wild beasts ; consequently we did not hesitate to 
express our wonder, and to ask why it was done in this 
case. Sr. Andrade, in reply, said it was the custom of 
the country, and that he had never thought of bringing 
his daughters up in any other way. I asked, f Did they 
never go out ? ' ' No, never,' he replied ; they had all 
learned riding when they were children, and since then 
they had, according to custom, been shut up in the house, 
where they would remain until husbands had been ob- 
tained for them. . . . Some of us promising to breakfast 
with the Andrades the following morning, we retired to 
; our tents for the night, wondering much that a man, who 
: prided himself on being the owner of an estate of more 
I than thirty square miles in extent, and who also possessed 



72 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



some hundreds of head of cattle, mules, and horses, could 
be content to pass his life in so wretched a habitation as 
was his, living in a style not better than the poorest ca- 
boclo. ... In the morning, on going out of our tent, we 
found Andrade already standing outside his door, waiting 
for our appearance to summon us in to partake of cof- 
fee and smoke a cigarette, in which manner a Brazilian 
fazendeiro invariably begins his day, breakfast being usu- 
ally deferred till ten or eleven o'clock. . . . On returning 
from our ride at about ten o'clock, I went in to breakfast 
with the Andrades, according to promise. The first dish 
offered consisted of cubes of hard meat, out of which all 
flavor and goodness had been extracted by a process of 
cooking unknown to me, and withal so tough that no 
teeth could meet through them, the whole floating about 
in some thin, greasy-looking fluid which our hosts called 
caldo, but which seemed to be nothing more than greasy 
hot water. A second dish consisted of black beans, like- 
wise swimming in greasy caldo. Cabbage, cut into fine 
shreds, formed a third dish ; while farinha was handed 
round to be put into each individual's plate, to absorb the 
greasy liquor, and thus facilitate the conveyance of it to 
the mouth. 

" Notwithstanding a sharp appetite, engendered by a 
three hours' ride in the fresh mountain air, my stomach 
revolted from the nauseous mess in my plate, and vain 
were my attempts to get any of it down. After this 
came a dish of curded milk, which, when eaten with 
sugar and farinha, is really not objectionable. Water 
and rum were then handed round to drink, and thus the 
meal came to an end. Before rising from the table, how- 
ever, Andrade and Jaca (his son) each filled his mouth 
with water, which, after going through various sug- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



73 



gestive contortions of cheeks and lips for about half a 
minute, they presently squirted out, broadcast, over the 
hard-beaten mud floor. Immediately after this, coffee 
and cigarettes were handed round by the senhora herself, 
she having all through the meal remained standing, in 
attendance upon us and upon her husband and son. 

" The meal above described may be taken, to a great 
extent, as typical of the entertainment offered to the 
traveler at the houses of all the ruder planters of the re- 
moter districts of the province. "What they are accus- 
tomed to eat themselves, they give you — nothing more 
and nothing less. They might live like princes, with 
such a wealth of nature around them, but, in the great 
majority of instances, they certainly seem to prefer to 
live like — pigs. Their hospitality, however, must be 
taken to cover a multitude of sins. When once a trav- 
eler can get accustomed to the food of the country, there 
is no trait that he more appreciates in the character of 
the people than their open and ungrudging hospitality to 
all comers." 

A kind of ball which the same author attended at the 
Colonia Thereza village, situated in a fertile region, yet 
stagnant from lack of communication with the outer 
world, is thus described : " On entering the house at which 
the entertainment was to be held, we immediately found 
ourselves in a large, mud-floor room, ranged round the 
walls of which were all the youth and beauty of the vil- 
lage, smartly dressed in clean cotton prints, all evidently 
' got up ' for the occasion. In the center of this room, 
which was bare of furniture, the young men of the vil- 
lage, to the number of about two dozen, were grouped 
together, chatting and smoking cigarettes, with their hats 
on their heads, to all appearance utterly oblivious of the 
7 



74 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION" AND PROSPECTS. 



presence of the ladies. Onr entry seemed to be the signal 
for the commencement of the entertainment. Two banjos 
struck up, and now, for the first time, the men began to 
turn their attention to the demure but conscious-looking 
maidens, who had up to the present moment been silently 
awaiting their pleasure. One by one each man chose a 
partner, till ten couples were made up. These ten couples 
now formed a circle in the middle of the room, and the 
dance commenced. 

" "With slow and rhythmic beat the men first began to 
keep time to the banjos, alternately advancing toward and 
retiring from the center of the ring, the women also 
stamping with their feet but not advancing. At the end 
of each dozen bars or so of the music, all with one accord, 
both men and women, gave three loud claps of the hands, 
which was the signal for the moment of a greater display 
of energy in the movements of the body, and a more vig- 
orous stamping of feet upon the hard mud floor. All at 
once one of the men dancers, in a rich full voice, struck 
up an ( impromptu 5 stanza, in beautiful time and harmony 
with the music, the last words of which were taken up 
and repeated in chorus by all. Once more vocal silence, 
while the monotonous turn, turn, turn, of the banjos, and 
the noise of the stamping of feet, went on as before. 
Then again, a second, wild, ; impromptu ' stanza burst 
forth from another of the dancers, again to be taken up in 
chorus by all. We observed on each of these occasions 
that the dancers all turned their eyes upon us, as though 
we were the persons they were addressing. We presently 
found this to be the case, one of our interpreters, who was 
present, coming up and informing us that we were being 
invited to ' join the dance.' Nothing loath, we each chose 
a willing damsel from the still unexhausted row of wall- 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



75 



flowers, and joined the untiring ring in the middle of the 
room. 

" During what seemed interminable minutes, we too 
had now to beat our feet upon the hard floor, swing our 
arms and bodies, and clap our hands. As the dance went 
on, the excitement waxed stronger, the ' impromptu ' 
shouts became yells, the once graceful swaying of the 
bodies of the performers was changed into violent contor- 
tions, and all the characteristics of a North American In- 
dian war-dance came into play. Curling and I now 
quietly slipped out of the ranks of the dancers, and re- 
tired unnoticed to the background. The atmosphere of 
the room was full of the smoke of cigarettes, through 
which the dim bees- wax tapers, here and there stuck upon 
the face of the walls around, cast a lurid glare. Suddenly 
the music ceased ; the tired fingers of the minstrels had 
given way at last, and the dance abruptly came to a con- 
clusion. The partnership between each couple was im- 
mediately dissolved, without ceremony of any kind. The 
man turned on his heel without look, word, or salutation ; 
and the forlorn damsel, her service or presence being no 
longer necessary, once more retired to her place against 
the wall, there to bloom unheeded till another dance 
should be commenced. 

"Refreshments of rum, water, and cigarettes were 
now handed round by the host to us and to the men gen- 
erally, who had again grouped themselves in threes and 
fours about the middle of the room. During the dance 
no conversation had been carried on between the partners, 
and now no sign of courtesy or deference was bestowed 
upon the poor, forsaken damsels by their late partners. It 
appeared to me that this neglect proceeded not so much 
from any indifference or want of gallantry on the part of 



<T6 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



the men, as from an enforced custom, which seemed to 
forbid even the slightest appearance of intimacy between 
the sexes. A longer acquaintance with this backwoods 
colony was not convincing of the perfect efficacy of these 
strict rules of its society. Nevertheless, in default of a 
higher standard of education being given to the women, 
they are no doubt necessary." 

It seems that when a stranger comes to one of these 
backwoods settlements the people out of compliment — 
possibly in part for curiosity — come to take a look at him. 
The first day Mr. Bigg- Wither arrived at Colonia Thereza, 
he dined in the evening with the director, and says: 
" While we were at dinner, the same curious custom, with 
which we were first made acquainted at Ponta Grossa, of 
the people of the place paying us complimentary visits, 
was observed ; at one time during the meal there being as 
many as twenty individuals standing or squatting round the 
walls of the room, staring silently with might and main. 
They neither offered to say a word, nor, as far as I could 
tell from their manner, did they expect to be addressed 
themselves. I really began to feel quite uncomfortable 
under their prolonged and silent stare. At length, how- 
ever, somewhat to my relief, they began to depart one by 
one, till, by the time dinner was concluded, they had all 
disappeared. We talked to the director about them after- 
ward, and he told us they were all residents of the place, 
and that they merely wished to compliment us." 

Captain Burton, in his graphic work the u Highlands 
of Brazil," thus describes the planter's life as he saw it in 
the province of Minas-Geraes in 1867 : " The life of the 
planter is easily told. He rises at dawn and his slave- 
valet brings him coffee and wash-hand basin with ewer, 
both of solid silver. After strolling about the mill, which 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



77 



often begins work at 2 a. m., and riding over the estate to 
see that the hands are not idling, he returns between nine 
and eleven with his family, and, if a bachelor, with his 
head men to breakfast. The sunny hours are passed either 
in a siesta aided by a glass of English ale — there is noth- 
ing English in it but the name — in reading the newspa- 
pers, or in receiving visits. The dinner is between 3 p. m. 
and 4 p. m., sometimes later ; it is invariably followed by 
coffee and tobacco. Often there is another relay of coffee 
before sitting down to tea, biscuits and butter, or con- 
serves, and the day ends with chat in some cool place. 
The monotony ... is broken by an occasional visit to a 
neighbor, or to the nearest country town." 

Santa Catharina, the most southerly but one of Bra- 
zil's twenty provinces, contains the land granted as the 
Princess Imperial's marriage-portion ? and on which is a 
colony under charge of an American. There are several 
colonies in the province, and it possesses a diversified sur- 
face, and a salubrious climate, like all of Brazil's highlands. 
Desterro, its port and capital, has a good harbor, and in 
time of war is used as Brazil's southern naval station. 
Five to nine steamships per month, each way, north and 
south, call there. The late American consular agent 
there, Mr. Comsett, in a report published by the Depart- 
ment of State, gave the name and character of thirty-eight 
different kinds of valuable timber growing in that prov- 
ince, and states that there are many other kinds. The 
province has been called the paradise of Brazil. There is 
an abundance of fish and beef, but otherwise Mr. Com- 
sett found the expense of living dear. 

I have lately obtained, direct, some information rela- 
tive to the German colonies of Blumenau, Brusque, and 
D. Francisea, and which, though from a source very 



78 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



friendly to the colonies, I consider reliable. They are 
distant eight days by steamer southwest from Rio de 
Janeiro. The colony of Blumenau was founded by Dr. 
Blumenau in 1849, and occupies mountainous land, with 
red-colored and somewhat sandy soil, naturally produc- 
ing forest near the navigable waters of the Itajahy River. 
Its markets are Desterro, Santos, and Rio de Janeiro, and 
as eight steamers a month run between these points, there 
ought to be reasonable rates of transportation. However, 
it costs twenty-six dollars for first-class passage on a 
steamer from Rio to the nearest port for this colony. The 
colonists bought their land at the rate of about two mills 
a square braga, they each hold on an average about one 
hundred alqueiras (six hundred acres), and about half the 
number have fully paid for their land. The Brazilian 
Government furnished money to build roads. There is 
a road leading from Itajahy on the sea-coast, by the way 
of Brusque, to Blumenau, and there are also some steam- 
boats running on the Itajahy River. These colonists are 
principally Protestant Germans from North Germany. 
They do not grow coffee ; their principal crops are sugar- 
cane, Indian corn, beans, and rice ; and they raise cattle 
and hogs. The houses of the colonists are of wood and 
brick, one story high with floor overhead, and situated 
about three hundred to five hundred yards apart. Each 
family has on an average a dozen cows, thirty to forty 
pigs, one to four horses, a few sheep, and a good deal of 
poultry, chickens, turkeys, pigeons, etc. The wages for 
men's labor are forty cents to a dollar a day of ten hours 5 
work. Servant-girls are paid four to six dollars per 
month. There is an abundance of food, the climate is 
excellent, and good health prevails. I am assured that a 
colonist working hard, yet living well, will easily pay for 



LIFE AND MANNERS. 



79 



his land and accumulate a capital of twelve hundred to 
twenty-four hundred dollars in eight or ten years. For 
social diversion the colonists have the usual German 
amusements. There are two or three singing societies, a 
shooting society, also occasional balls. There are also fish- 
ing and hunting. At both Blumenau and D. Franeisca 
there is a theatre, with a performance in German once or 
twice a month. There are two newspapers published at 
Blumenau, and one at D. Franeisca, all in the German 
language. The postal service is regular. There are two 
post-offices, which have to accommodate a pretty exten- 
sive region. Instruction in the schools is in the German 
language. Teachers receive eight to sixteen dollars a 
month, and land and house free. Attendance of children 
from eight to fourteen years of age is very regular. 

The German colonists have from six to eight churches, 
nearly all Protestant, and sustained by themselves. At 
Blumenau the Italians and Portuguese each have a Catho- 
lic church. With one exception, the Catholic churches 
are sustained by the colonists themselves. The Italians 
in the settlement are from the north of Italy. Only a 
very few of the colonists are naturalized, but they are of 
course subject to Brazilian laws, with the exception of be- 
ing called into the military service. As a rule, they appear 
to be contented with their lot. The colony of Blumenau 
has a municipal organization, and belongs politically to 
the first election district of the province. There are sev- 
eral hotels at the center of the colony, which furnish a 
good table at less than a dollar a day — " drinking extra.' 5 
The venders also furnish lodging. There are no slaves 
in the colony. 

In the interior of Brazil, and among the more numerous 
class of people, the habits and accommodations of living 



80 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



are very primitive, and scarcely above a half -civilized con- 
dition. The floors of the dwellings are nothing but the 
natural ground. Household utensils are very scanty. 
People eat with their fingers, instead of with knives and 
forks, and are expert in throwing the food into their 
mouths. Women seldom sit at the table wdth the men, 
especially if there be a stranger present ; but, w^ith the 
children, will take their meals sitting on the ground, the 
food being spread on a dry hide, instead of on a cloth. 
Some of the habits, such as bending the head down, and 
wiping the mouth, after eating, on the bare table, are re- 
pulsive enough. For a little fun, after a jovial meal, one 
of the naked children — five or six years old it may be — 
will be put upon the table, and made to frolic about by dif- 
ferent ones giving it an amiable slap. Women belonging 
to the middle class, in the rural districts, make visits to 
their neighbors barefooted. The clothing of men is fre- 
quently nothing more than a shirt and a pair of trousers. 
If it is cold ? they will wear the same red woolen blanket 
that they use for cover at night. The hammock is com- 
monly used, instead of a bed, and is much the more tidy 
article of furniture, it being the custom to wash it twice 
a month. The ordinary hammock is of cotton, woven by 
hand at home, and quite durable. Some of them have 
neat variegated borders, and cost twelve dollars. So also 
out in the wilds of Matto-Grosso there will be seen large, 
square, and home-made hammocks, woven with different 
colors, which are worth forty dollars each. People sleep 
in the hammock at night without undressing. In the day- 
time the hammock has to serve for a seat, chairs being 
very scarce. Indeed, the long dry season on the interior 
table-lands tends to cause wooden furniture to fall to 
pieces. The same people who eat with their hands^ it 



LIFE AND MANNERS, 



81 



must be said to their credit, are clean in regard to their 
bodies ; they are in the habit of bathing frequently. In 
Matto-Grosso, women as well as men are addicted to smok- 
ing cigarettes. People have coffee served to them in a 
small cup in the morning before getting out of the ham- 
mock. 



CHAPTEE V. 



THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL. 

" What sort of a man is the Emperor ? " This was 
the question most frequently asked me on my return from 
Brazil to the United States. Dom Pedro II, Emperor of 
Brazil, is six feet tall, and weighs one hundred and eighty 
pounds. He has an intellectual head, eyes a grayish blue 
(his mother was the Archduchess Leopoldine of Austria), 
beard full and gray, hair well trimmed, also gray, complex- 
ion florid, and expression sober. He is erect, and has a 
manly bearing. Being now upward of sixty years of 
age, he is not, of course, so sentimental a man as when, 
thirty years or so ago, he used to talk to American trav- 
elers about our poets. Descended from a long line of 
rulers, he came to the throne in 1840, at the early age of 
fourteen and a half years. His reign began fifteen years 
after Brazilian independence, for his father, being unwill- 
ing to accept so liberal a Constitution, frankly expressed 
his sentiments, honorably abdicated, though at great sacri- 
fice of his feelings, and retired to Portugal. During this 
long period there have been some provincial rebellions 
and some local turmoil, but the Emperor has always shown 
a tact, energy, and humanity that helped much to restore 
order, quiet, and good feeling. Thus, while he has held 
the scepter his country has continued to prosper. Its 



THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL. 



83 



vast area has been held intact, and it has become an 
important empire. As I have looked at his gray head, 
when he has been driving in his carriage through the 
streets of Rio, I have said to myself, " There certainly 
is an august and venerable character." 

The sixtieth anniversary of his birthday, December 2, 
1885, was celebrated by the Municipal Council of Eio by 
the liberation of one hundred and thirty-three slaves, with 
funds contributed by private parties for that purpose. 
The whole amount thus contributed was 34,925 milreis 
($12,256), of which the sum of 30,000 milreis was from 
some person unknown, but generally believed to be the 
Emperor himself. During the ceremony of conferring 
the letters of liberty upon the slaves, the Emperor is said 
to have expressed the wish that God would give him life 
to bestow liberty upon the last slave in Brazil. 

My wife and I had the honor of being presented to 
the Emperor and Empress of Brazil, at the Palace of Sao 
Christovao, some little time after our arrival, and were 
graciously received by both. As was natural on this oc- 
casion, reference was made to the Emperor's visit in the 
United States, and I was glad to assure him of his popu- 
larity there. I told him he had many friends in the 
United States. He replied: "That is a good record." 
On his learning that the place of my nativity was in the 
same region of country as Boston, the Emperor said that 
Boston pleased him more than any other city in the 
United States. The first person he visited when in Bos- 
ton was Mr. Clark, of Cambridge, the celebrated telescope- 
maker. As all the world knows, the Emperor is not only 
a scholar, but a man of great activity. He is unwearied 
in his visits to observe and encourage industrial and edu- 
cational enterprise. Day after day one hears of his spend- 



84 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 

ing two or three hours at a time at some of the public in- 
stitutions or establishments — it may be a department of 
the Government, or the National Library or Museum, or 
a public-school examination, or a hospital, or the Military 
Academy, or the Government machine-shops, or the Ar- 
senal. 

Daniel Webster would get up at four o'clock in the 
morning to study a patent case, and has been seen thus 
early with his coat off, lying on the floor on his back under 
a machine, studying the principle and details of its opera- 
tion. The Emperor does almost as much, for he has been 
known, on an American vessel at Bio, to descend on lad- 
ders through a narrow passage-way down to the bottom 
of the vessel and minutely study its machinery. He 
makes journeys, lasting several days, into the interior to 
assist in the opening of new railroads, and on these occa- 
sions he is frequently accompanied by the Empress, a 
very popular lady, of fine manners. A recent instance of 
his notice of scientific work, which he seems always par- 
ticularly glad to honor, was his visit, October 10, 1884, on 
board the United States Coast-Survey vessel Charles S. 
Patterson, then lying at Rio on her way to Alaska for 
scientific service. He was welcomed on board by the 
American minister, ex-Governor Thomas A. Osborn, and 
Lieutenant Clover, commanding the vessel. He went 
through the vessel, examined carefully its library, scien- 
tific instruments, charts, new apparatus for measuring 
depth, as well as the newly invented steam launches. 
Later in the day he attended the opening of the new in- 
clined-plane Corcovado Mountain Railway to Paineiras. 
The following day, according to the journals of Octo- 
ber 11th, he spent three hours at the Government Office 
of Public Archives, where he read several documents of 



THE EMPEROK OF BRAZIL. 



85 



historic interest, among others the original correspondence 
of Lord Cochrane, the defense of Count Barca, a curious 
manuscript of Father Francisco Jose da Serra Xavier, 
etc. ; also looked at some of the work of the office. 

If Peter II, Emperor of Brazil, lacks some of those 
great qualities of statesmanship which distinguished Peter 
the Great of Eussia, he must be admitted anyhow to pos- 
sess much tact as a ruler. Probably he does not exercise 
a hundredth part of the one-man power that is used by 
the President of the United States. 

In case of his death the Emperor would be succeeded 
on the throne by his d/aughter the Princess Isabella, born 
July 29, 1846, and married, October 15, 1864, to Count 
d'Eu (Louis Gaston, Prince d' Orleans), grandson of Louis 
Philippe. The princess bears a strong likeness to her 
father, and is regarded as an earnest Catholic. 

When the Emperor goes out in the city he always 

rides in tfie imperial carriage, drawn by six mules or 

horses, with a mounted escort of eight or ten men, two of 

which ride ahead. The carriage is always driven rapidly, 

and the Emperor's coming over the stone pavements can 

be heard some distance off. He generally sits bareheaded 

in the carriage, reading, and returns salutations with a 

slight nod. I am told that his library, into which visitors 

are not usually admitted, is in a state of great disorder — 

books, pictures, and other objects being scattered over the 

floor. He gives no dinners nor balls, but is accessible to 

the public generally every Saturday evening. He is very 

benevolent, and gives away a good deal of money to the 

poor. Though a man of liberal ideas, he fulfills those 

religious duties and ceremonies required by his office. 

One of these is to wash annually the feet of a certain 

number of poor people. Kespectable persons are selected 
8 



86 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



for this rite, who, after its performance, are treated to a 
good dinner. At Easter likewise lie attends the long 
service at the Cathedral, and publicly drinks a glass of 
holy water. A beautiful and pious duty, which he never 
neglects, is to visit his mother's tomb on every anniver- 
sary of her death. 

The newspapers mentioned that, during the political 
excitement in April, a young man called at the palace in 
Petropolis, sent in a card, and asked for an interview with 
his Majesty the Emperor, which was granted. Upon 
being introduced, the visitor informed his Majesty that 
he had come from Sao Paulo especially to warn him that 
the Conservatives must be called to take the Government. 
The Emperor replied that this required reflection, and in- 
vited the visitor to remain in an antechamber, from which 
he was expelled by the servants. Some of his political 
duties will be referred to in the chapter on Government. 



CHAPTER VI. 



TIJUCA — PEDKA B0JSITA. 

Tourists arriving at Rio in the hot season, frequently 
go up to Tijuca to spend the nights, or at least to have a 
look at the place. It is a grand mountain-park region, 
embracing many thousand acres, intersected by excellent 
carriage-roads, which lead up to magnificent sea and 
mountain views, such as the Chinese and the Admiral's, 
abounding also with flower-besprinkled woods, granite 
cliffs, crystal brooks and cascades. Some of its nooks 
seem enchanted. There are two villages on the main 
road, and scattered about on the various eminences are 
some pretty villas whose grounds are well stocked with 
orange-groves, fig-trees, vines, thickets of bamboo, big 
rose-bushes, some of which are always in bloom, and 
much other vegetation. 

The place is now rather quiet. To get there, you 
take the street-car marked Tijuca at the Largo Sao Fran- 
cisco, being careful to select a seat on the shady side; 
on the way you pass through the long street, Haddock 
Lobo, in which are the palaces of the Duke de Saxe and 
Baron Mesqueta, and in an hour reach the foot of the 
mountain. There you take the stage, or a private con- 
veyance, up the fine mountain-road, admitting of a trot 
a good part of the way, and in half an hour are at Boa 



88 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 



Vista, the most elevated village in Tijuca. That is as 
high ground as tlie stage reaches, but the green-topped 
mountains on either side are several hundred feet higher. 
On the winding way up there are two places where very 
beautiful views are to be had of the bay and part of the 
city. There are a hotel and several nice residences at Boa 
Vista, but from there the stage soon begins to descend 
the other side to another hotel, reached in about ten 
minutes, and which, though somewhat shut in, has a pleas- 
ant prospect from its piazza, and on its grounds a clear 
stream forming cool basins for bathing, amid a romantic 
labyrinth of f oliage. 

The last six months' residence of my family and my- 
self in Brazil was at Sea- View Cottage, Tijuca, a spot 
whence there is a view of the sea in two places. During 
this time we had many delightful horseback-rides amid 
the charming solitudes, especially into the Floresta and 
its pleasant bridle-paths, where often the most brilliant 
butterflies, gently winging their way through the moist 
tropical air of some shady ravine, would pass before us 
and disappear in the woods. 

To illustrate the surroundings, I shall venture to give 
a familiar account of a horseback-ride which, accompa- 
nied by my wife and daughter, I took to the top of the 
mountain called Pedra Bonita (" Beautiful Rock"). We 
had been told by an old resident of Tijuca that the road 
was good all the w^ay there, and that people sometimes 
made the trip before breakfast. We started at nine 
o'clock in the forenoon, May 4, 1885, and, after riding 
something over a mile, on the road leading from Boa 
Vista to the Chinese View, we turned off to the right and 
went down into and across a valley having fifty acres or 
so of flat land watered by a clear stream, traversed by roads 



TIJUCA-PEDKA BONITA. 



89 



arched over by bamboos, and which was formerly the 
seat of a coffee-plantation. Of the latter there is no ves- 
tige except a durable-looking house. At this time there 
was a dairy with a good modern barn for cows, some 
patches of cultivated grass on surrounding knolls, a few 
scattered dwellings, and on the farther side, down stream, 
a paper-mill. "We rode on as far as the latter place, 
and found we were on the wrong track ; but a Portu- 
guese operative went with us a few hundred yards and 
showed us where to turn. Soon we began, to ascend the 
mountain over a narrow way or path which had been 
paved with rough stones many years ago, and which was 
beginning to be obstructed by high bushes and branches 
of trees, especially after we had left the only pasture-gate 
on the way. On we rode. We were ascending the north 
side of the mountain ; some of the way was quite steep 
and difficult, and, the weather being warm, it was neces- 
sary occasionally to let the horses rest. We soon gained 
a point where we had a full view of the Peak of Tijuca, 
the Parrot's Beak, and other mountain scenery. In the 
course of half or three quarters of an hour we came to 
an old and abandoned house, without floor or windows, 
but in the yard of which was a fine specimen of the fire 
tree or plant in full bloom, with bright-reel, long-leaved 
flowers. We rode up into the door-yard to take a look 
at the place, and to gain, if we could, a good distant view. 
There seemed to be no very near prospect of our getting 
to the top of the mountain. However, we kept on our way 
through high and thickly grown bushes. In the course 
of half an hour more we came to another deserted, low- 
roofed, weather-stained house, still more dilapidated than 
the one we had just seen. Around this were a few rods 
of pasture, though rather overgrown with bushes. We 



90 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



seemed to have come to the end of our path, for there 
were no signs of a tract beyond, and we were not at the 
summit of Pedra Bonita, that was sure. Fortunately for 
us, however, we met there a colored man, a tall, slender 
old fellow, who was hunting his mule. He was bare- 
footed, wore a pair of cotton trousers, a thin undershirt, 
a low-crowned felt hat, and had in his hands a sharp, 
brass-hilted artillery saber or broadsword, which I sup- 
posed he intended to use in cutting bushes. "We learned 
from him that we were on the right track, and that we 
could get to the top of Pedra Bonita in about a quarter 
of an hour. He pointed toward the path we should take, 
but said it was very bad. We found it so completely 
overgrown by ferns and bushes that we could make no 
progress at all. I then proposed that he should accom- 
pany us, to show the way, which he did, going ahead and 
cutting away the bushes so we could get along. The way 
was difficult and seemed long. I thought no one could 
have passed that route on horseback for some years. 
At one time I almost had misgivings lest w r e were being 
led into the wilderness ; but at length, in less perhaps 
than half an hour, we reached the top. "While yet in the 
woods, and before we could see anything but light 
through the branches, we could hear the heavy roar of the 
sea. We dismounted and tied our horses in a clump of 
heavy timber, and then walked a few hundred feet out 
upon the bare, smooth summit of solid rock, where a little 
monument had been built. We were on the summit of 
Pedra Bonita. 

The view was superb. In a moment we felt more 
than rewarded for the difficult and fatiguing ascent. On 
our right, at the foot of the mountain, was the long 
Tijuca beach, with the white waves of the ocean, whose 



TIJUCA — PEDRA BOOTTA. 



91 



deep murmur we heard, rolling upon it ; and back of the 
beach a flat, dark area of low land, inclosing a fresh-water 
lake, around which were some fishermen's cottages. Op- 
posite ns was the castle-topped Garvea, with its great 
perpendicular tower of solid rock, distinctly and beauti- 
fully prominent. To the left of the Garvea, and partly 
in front of us, was an extensive view of the ocean and an 
island near the shore; off to the left, and apparently 
eight miles distant, was a good view of the Corcovado, its 
side toward the sea looking extremely precipitous and its 
summit sharp-pointed. Between the mountains we could 
see the Bay of Rio, and the Petropolis Mountains be- 
yond; also a little to their right the pinnacles of the 
Organ Mountains. The prospect was much grander than 
the "Chinese Yiew" — so called because Chinamen built 
the road leading to it. Between the Pedra Bonita we 
were on and the Corcovado, there was a mass of white 
moving clouds covering the valleys, which made the 
scene more picturesque. What we had formerly sup- 
posed was the Pedra Bonita was, in fact, the slender, 
sharp-pointed, sugar-loaf eminence, a little way distant on 
our left, but considerably below us, called the Pitanga. 
The highest summit of Pedra Bonita has an area only 
about twenty-five feet square, and the sides are precipi- 
tous. Toward the Garvea there is, after a slight descent, 
a continuation of the summit that is about an acre broad. 

After a stay of twenty minutes we started down, 
bringing with us a piece of the rock. Our guide, who 
had stayed with us, led the way, still cutting bushes to 
improve the path. At one place he made a sudden halt, 
and seemed, by the motion of his arm and knife, to be 
trying to scare rather than hit a snake which he said was 
in among the branches of some bushes. Neither of us 



92 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



saw the reptile, which probably was after birds. It was 
suggested that it might be an anaconda. The incident 
afforded a good laugh. 

We left our guide where we found him, telling him 
to come to our house soon for his pay. He gave me a 
few guavas, which I put in my pocket, and just then I 
spied a couple of clusters of wild blackberries, which, 
though small, had the natural taste. They are never seen 
in Brazil except in some snch wild place, but there is no 
reason why the fruit conld not be cultivated. 

It was half -past one o'clock in the afternoon when we 
safely reached home. "Where the road was good we 
galloped rapidly. We had occupied nearly five hours in 
our excursion, yet felt very well satisfied at what we had 
accomplished. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 

A country as large as Brazil, having an area equal to 
that of the United States exclusive of Alaska, must, of 
course, have a variety of surface and climate. First, 
there are the hot lowlands bordering the ocean ; secondly, 
the highlands, partly prairie, and on the average three 
thousand feet above the sea-level, with a salubrious 
climate ; and, thirdly, the great forest-clad river-basins. 
The vast basin of the Amazon, which occupies the north- 
ern part of the empire, and comprises a third of its whole 
area, is nearly level, although there are occasional bluffs 
and not very high mountain-spurs on its shores as well as 
along the banks of its tributaries. This region is mostly 
covered with forest. The other two thirds of the country 
are to a great extent mountainous, or at least much ele- 
vated and broken. Distinct ranges of mountains extend 
along nearly the whole of the sea-coast, but they gener- 
ally are only about four thousand feet high, are covered 
with a good growth of hard-wood trees, and always have 
a green appearance. There are only a very few of the 
mountains in Brazil which have an elevation of six thou- 
sand to eight thousand feet. There are some in the min- 
ing regions, three hundred miles west of Bio, which are 
very rocky, and have a naked and black appearance. 



94 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION* AND PROSPECTS. 



Professor Agassiz was of the opinion that the soil 
which covers Brazil was brought down from the Andes 
by an immense glacier during the ice period — the " cos- 
mic winter, which may have lasted thousands of centu- 
ries." His conclusions on other matters have been so 
sound that I was disposed to adopt, without question, this 
theory of his, and was surprised to hear an experienced 
geologist, who is acquainted with Brazil, throw doubt 
upon it. His remark to me was, " As the students at 
college used to say, Agassiz ' balled up ? on this matter." 
But whatever may have been the origin of the soil — call 
it "drift" or "deposit" as we may — one thing is certain, 
that nearly over all the surface of Brazil the soil has a 
red color ; and the darker the shade of red which it has, 
and the nearer it approaches to a purple color, the more 
fertile it is found to be. Such soil frequently occurs on 
the more elevated situations, where it produces a rich 
growth of vegetation, and, indeed, is found on mountains 
more frequently than on low land. Mr. Buckle, in his 
well-known work, says : " Brazil, which is nearly as large 
as the whole of Europe, is covered with a vegetation of 
incredible profusion. Indeed, so rank and luxuriant is 
the growth, that Mature seems to riot in the very wanton- 
ness of power. . . . The progress of agriculture is stopped 
by impassable forests, and the harvests are destroyed by 
innumerable insects. The mountains are too high to 
scale, the rivers are too wide to bridge ; everything is 
contrived to keep back the human mind, and repress its 
rising ambition." This eloquent writer devotes several 
pages to Brazil, and much that he says of it is true ; but 
he had acquired from travelers, who had made but brief 
visits to the country, an erroneous impression as to the 
density and luxuriance of its vegetation. Many of the 



SITUATION, KESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 95 



best plantations in Brazil are on land that was formerly 
covered with the heaviest kind of timber that the soil 
produces, and I am satisfied that, if we take the most de- 
sirable agricultural land as a body, it can be subdued 
about as readily as the forests of Kentucky and Ohio 
were subdued by the pioneers of those States. Some of 
the rich bottom-lands on the tributaries of the Mississippi 
bear as dense and luxuriant a forest-growth as are to be 
found in Brazil. It is true, the mountains greatly ob- 
struct communication ; but already railroads run over 
them, in several places, as well as through them by tun- 
nels; and they are no higher than some of those in 
Norway, which are crossed by excellent macadamized 
roads. The many navigable rivers, instead of retarding 
development, afford an extensive means of communica- 
tion, and much of the civilization of the interior is found 
along their banks. In the central and southern portions 
of Brazil are extensive undulating plains, mostly devoid of 
timber, covered with green grass in summer but shriveled 
and almost bare in winter, and which, though better suited 
for cattle-raising than for field-culture, occasionally suffer 
long-continued and fatal 'droughts. The more fertile 
tracts of the country are like islands in a great area of 
thin soil. One may sometimes travel for days on horse- 
back over poor and almost worthless land. A naturalist, 
who has spent several years traveling in Brazil, said to 
me : " Brazil is not a fertile country ; even the rich vege- 
tation in the Amazon Yalley is not owing to fertile soil 
but to the air and rain." Speaking of the large province 
of Matto-Grosso, comprising almost a fourth of the em- 
pire, he said, " It is a splendid desert." 

Having traveled hundreds of miles in different direc- 
tions in some of the most fertile and productive parts of 



96 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



the country, I must say that its vegetation is not more 
remarkably luxuriant than what would be met with in 
some parts of the United States or Europe. 

Mr. "Walter J. Hammond, a British subject and a rail- 
way manager in Brazil, seems to give a fair summary of 
the character of the land in a paper recently published. 
" The chief reason/ 5 he says, " for the belief in the sur- 
passing fertility of the land is not based on what it has 
been known to give per acre, but rather it is the result of 
an ocular impression of the glorious green mountains that 
form the coast-line of the southern half of Brazil. In- 
stinctively, all attribute fertility to forest-lands, and to a 
certain extent this is right, owing to the magnificent allu- 
vial soil found in them, often the accumulation of many 
a century. But Brazil is not all covered with dense for- 
ests, and even where it is, and where the soil is sufficiently 
moist and good, the land is not by any means suitable for 
any other than tropical agriculture. There are myriads 
of miles of sterile campo-land, on which only rank grass 
grows, and there are miles untold of sandy plains, on 
which only scrub cork-trees and other similar growth will 
flourish. . . . Examining the province of Sao Paulo, not- 
ably one of the richest in Brazil, a territory not much in- 
ferior in size to England, Scotland, and Ireland combined, 
we find that down the coast, for a distance of from fifty 
to eighty miles inland, the land is comparatively useless 
from an agricultural point of view. Beyond this strip of 
land the soil is a little better, and will, after the forest has 
been cut or burned down, produce one or two crops of 
Indian corn or rice without the need of manuring, after 
which it is used up. About one hundred miles from the 
sea-coast commences the coffee district, which is also vari- 
able in fertility, some parts being very good, others use- 



SITUATION, KESOUKCES, AND CLIMATE. 97 

less from being too dry, and others too sandy. Two hun- 
dred miles inland, in the region between the rivers Pardo, 
Piracicaba, and Tiete, where trap rock is chiefly found, is 
the famous red land. Even here there are stretches of 
miles and miles of sandy campo-land, useless for anything. 
If the European idea of good land — namely, that which 
with careful tilling and manuring will give good crops — 
be taken as a standard, then can the whole province of 
Sao Paulo be considered generally good, for the climate 
is good, the rainfall between forty and fifty inches on the 
table-land from Sao Paulo inland, and the seasons are well 
defined. This, however, can not be called c surpassing 
fertility.' On the contrary, it is the usual hard work of 
farming. When speaking of 6 surpassing fertility,' then, 
such rich lands as will give crop after crop (of which 
there are tracts in the province of Sao Paulo) with the 
minimum of labor, and without the necessity of a rotation 
of crops, is understood. Again, there certainly are good 
grazing-lands in the west of Sao Paulo and in Minas- 
Geraes, hundreds of miles from the markets, but they can 
not compare with the prairies of Rio Grande and the Ar- 
gentine Republic, hence can not be counted on as a source 
of railway prosperity for many years to come. Brazil's 
chief riches are her tropical products and her unworked 
minerals. ... To sum up this question of 6 surpassing 
fertility,' Brazil is very like the United States, in being 
rich and poor as far as her soil goes, but she can not com- 
pete with the States in many things, owing to her phys- 
ical configuration, her rivers in the southern half of the 
empire being of little use, having only short stretches of 
navigable water, and being cut up by innumerable rapids 
and water-falls; finally, they chiefly run toward Bolivia and 
her other western frontiers, instead of toward the coast." 
9 



98 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Among the many great river-basins of Brazil the Sao 
Francisco claims attention next after tlie Amazon, for the 
degree of its development and the extent and variety of 
its agricultural resources. "It occupies but little space on 
the ordinary map, but it is actually a thousand miles long 
and from fifty to two hundred miles wide, being inclosed 
on both sides by ranges of not very high mountains, 
whose spurs and foot-hills occasionally extend to the river- 
banks. This river takes its rise about three hundred miles 
northwest of Eio de Janeiro, and, flowing in a north and 
northeasterly course through a broken country, whose 
general surface is two thousand feet above the sea, finally 
reaches the ocean near the tenth degree of south latitude, 
and midway between the two important coast cities, Per- 
nambuco and Bahia. Unfortunately, the greatest extent 
of its navigation is shut out from the ocean by tremendous 
falls. 

Its scenery is more picturesque than that of the upper 
Mississippi, as it includes not only bold bluffs and knobs 
single and in groups, but vast plains, sweeping undula- 
tions, and grand mountain-views. Fine stretches of lime- 
stone country, richly clothed with forest, are here and 
there succeeded by sandstone with meager soil and scanty 
vegetation. There are also marks which have been left 
by mighty inundations. It is not remarkable, perhaps, for 
its natural history. Small alligators are frequently seen 
protruding their snouts out of the water. Here and there 
on a white sand-bank are flocks of gulls and snowy herons, 
while high in the air wheels the hunting vulture with 
crimson head and silver-lined wings. At night, in the 
solitudes, the traveler will often hear the plaintive notes 
of the whip-poor-will. There is much local traffic on this 
great river in spoon-shaped yawls and on rafts guided by 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 99 



singing and superstitious boatmen. The people living 
along; the banks call the canoe their horse. 

Scattered along the valley are many plantations and 
farms under cultivation. Delicious water-melons, or- 
anges, bananas, and figs are among the common fruits. 
Cotton is grown considerably, especially in the lower val- 
ley, yielding five hundred pounds of clean cotton to the 
acre. Indian corn and sugar-cane are likewise important 
crops. The principal agricultural pursuit, however, is 
stock-raising, and that is the industry for which most of 
the land is best adapted. About all the land in this great 
valley is held by private individuals, some owning one 
hundred and sixty square miles each. They have no 
taxes to pay on it ; otherwise they would be, as we say in 
the United States, " land-poor." Among the towns there 
are two or three with a population of four thousand. 
Captain Burton, who went down the entire valley, esti- 
mates that it will sustain a population of twenty millions. 
He shows, however, that there are places, now in ruins, 
on its banks, which were under successful cultivation a 
century ago by the Jesuit missions. The Paulo Affonso 
falls of this river, two hundred and seventy-three feet 
high, and probably the grandest in Brazil, occur about one 
hundred miles from its mouth. Around these falls a rail- 
road (Paulo Affonso), eighty-one miles in length, has been 
built by Government aid, which, starting at Piranhas, on 
the lower navigable part of the river, in the province of 
Alagoas, terminates on its upper navigable waters at Jato- 
ba, in the province of Pernambuco. 

Railroads to tap this productive but now secluded val- 
ley are pushing on from three important seaports. One 
from Pernambuco, the first section of which was opened 
in 1858, running in a southwesterly direction, through a 



100 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



sugar country, has been in operation seventy-seven miles, 
to Palmares, a couple of years, and is now completed to 
Marayal, another station beyond, but is only about a third 
part of the way to its destination. Another, from Bahia, 
running in a northwesterly direction, is in operation, one 
hundred and sixty-six miles, to Salgada, being over a third 
part of the way to Joazeiro, its destination, on the right 
bank of the Sao Francisco. The other is the Dom Pedro 
II Railway, running from Brazil's great commercial cen- 
ter, Eio de Janeiro, also in a northwesterly direction, and 
finished three hundred and twenty-five miles, to Itabira, 
on the head-waters of the Sao Francisco, from which point 
it will descend the valley. These three railroads will in 
a few years aid much in the development of that impor- 
tant region. 

The rubber industry is the principal resource of the 
two great provinces of the Amazon Valley, Para and 
Amazon, and its product occupies the third place in the 
national exports. The rubber-tree requires a growth of 
twenty to twenty-five years before it begins to produce, 
hence little or nothing has been done for its propagation. 
The milky sap which forms crude rubber is taken from 
the wild trees, which grow scattered through the forests 
of the Amazon and many of its affluents. The industry, 
being principally in the hands of an uneducated and half- 
civilized nomad population of Indian mixture, is of a 
crude character, and is pursued mostly on the national 
domain, which is freely open to everybody for this pur- 
pose. Nothing has been done to improve the system of 
labor. A wasteful and exhaustive system has been fol- 
lowed for half a century, and the consequence is that 
millions of rubber-trees have been destroyed and many 
others abandoned from premature and excessive use. 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 101 



There are instances of groves of trees which, by careful 
use and by not permitting them to be tapped in the 
months of August and September, in which they change 
their leaves, have been yielding for thirty years, and still 
are in good producing condition ; but the common prac- 
tice is so wasteful that many well-informed people appre- 
hend that, unless some remedy is applied, this rich re- 
source will, before long, suffer a serious and perhaps fatal 
decline. 

The rubber-tree thrives only on soil which is annually 
overflowed to a depth of three or more feet, and prefers 
the lowest and most recent river deposit. The rubber- 
gatherers are temporary squatters, and their usual dwell- 
ing is a hut with low roof of palm-thatch, beneath one 
end of which there is a raised floor or framework of lath, 
one or two yards from the ground, to which the occupants 
retreat at high water. Narrow paths lead from the gath- 
erer's hut, through dense underwood, to each separate 
tree. 

As showing how unprepared genteel people may some- 
times be for " roughing it " in the rubber-growing wilder- 
ness, or how ignorant they are of the life before them, 
an American who recently journeyed on the upper 
Amazon told me that on the steamboat with him was a 
'Brazilian family, the head of which was going up to en- 
gage largely in the rubber business, and, although he and 
his family would have to live in a shanty of one or two 
rooms on the river-bank, his wife had brought along in 
her trunks several fashionable silk dresses. 

The chief products of Brazil for export are coffee, 
sugar, rubber, cotton, hides, tobacco, and mate-tea,, rank- 
ing in the order in which they are named; but maize, 
mandioca (from which tapioca is made), beans, and rice 



102 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



are grown extensively for home consumption, the latter 
being much used in place of potatoes. Oranges, bananas, 
and pineapples are the best and principal fruits. With 
the exception of gold and diamonds, the mines as yet oc- 
cupy an insignificant place. There is good iron-ore, which 
is got out and worked by the Government, but not in a 
profitable manner. Amid the black and rocky mountains 
of the province of Minas-Geraes gold-mines have been 
successfully worked for two or three centuries, and with 
increased means of communication both gold and diamond 
mining will have an important development. Brazil's for- 
eign commerce amounts to $176,000,000 a year, of which 
her exports average $96,000,000 and her imports $80,- 
000,000 a year. The aggregate foreign commerce of all 
the other South American countries per year is $275,- 
000,000, being only a hundred million dollars more than 
that of Brazil alone. That there is nothing marvelous in 
Brazil's riches may be seen by comparing her foreign 
commerce with that of some other countries. Take Swe- 
den, for example, which lies at another part of the globe 
and is covered with snow nearly half the year. Her 
population is four and a half millions — less than half that 
of Brazil — and yet her foreign commerce amounts to one 
hundred and twenty-five million dollars a year, or three 
fourths that of Brazil — the latter country meantime hav- 
ing the labor of a million African slaves. Of Brazil's 
total foreign commerce fifty-six million dollars, or about 
one third, is with the United States ; of which amount 
forty-seven million dollars are exports, principally coffee 
and rubber, to the United States, while nine million dol- 
lars represent American imports into Brazil, consisting 
principally of flour, kerosene, machinery, lard, and lum- 
ber. This American trade is distributed among the lead- 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 103 



ing ports of Brazil as follows : Para, $10,000,000 ; Per- 
nambuco, $6,000,000 ; Bahia, $3,000,000 ; Eio, $30,000,- 
000 ; Santos, $5,000,000 ; Eio Grande do Sul, $1,000,000 ; 
and other ports, $1,000,000. 

Though a field worthy of much attention and enter- 
prise, she has not the capacity for that rapid commercial 
development which her resources would at first seem to 
indicate. Her situation is not favorable for the rapid ac- 
cumulation of wealth. "With a population of some thir- 
teen millions scattered over a region nearly as large as the 
United States, her territorial extent is a source of weak- 
ness. Her resources, though undoubtedly imposing and 
calculated to insure for her an important future, are yet 
inferior to what is commonly supposed. Her coal, iron, 
and much of her lumber have to be imported. The small 
grains, such as wheat, barley, and oats, do not flourish on 
her soil. At present she is laboring under some financial 
embarrassment, partly originating, it is but just to say, in 
a long foreign war that was forced upon her, and in which 
her course was disinterested. Her revenue amounts to 
about fifty-five million dollars a year, but the expenditures, 
of which only a comparatively small part is for produc- 
tive purposes, annually exceed that amount by several 
million dollars. The public debt of Brazil in 1885, ac- 
cording to the report of the Minister of Finance, was 
868,729,487 milreis; which reduced to money of the 
United States, at the rate of forty cents to the milreis, 
would amount to three hundred and forty-eight million dol- 
lars. Her annual interest charge is now upward of twenty 
million dollars. Her currency consists of irredeemable 
legal-tender Government notes, the value of which — daily 
fluctuating — is about twelve cents below par, although it 
is seventeen years since her foreign war closed. In the 



104 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



laudable purpose of development, the Government has 
incurred heavy liabilities. It has guaranteed, and for a 
long term of years will need to pay the interest on, the 
bonds of several railway and other companies whose ex- 
penses exceed their income. And, although Brazil has 
always maintained a dignified and conservative course, 
and never repudiated any of her debts, still there is quite 
a general feeling that, unless a change be made in the di- 
rection of retrenchment, grave financial difficulties may 
be experienced. The situation is not favorable, therefore, 
for much material progress. Indeed, the gradual extinc- 
tion of slave-labor will, for a while at least, tend to reduce 
the volume of national products. Steady increase has 
been made in extending several lines of railroads. Some 
hundreds of miles of new road have been opened for 
traffic during the present year. New lines have also been 
commenced, and there is reason to suppose that the de- 
velopment will annually increase, though the broken sur- 
face of Brazil generally, and especially the mountains 
near the sea-coast, are great obstacles to rapid railroad de- 
velopment. The principal railroad, being the one which 
runs west from Rio de Janeiro, crosses two ranges of 
mountains. The railroad running from Santos into the 
interior of the province of Sao Paulo has first to climb a 
mountain two thousand feet high. None of the railroads 
have yet penetrated to the vicinity of wild or public 
lands. Some of them traverse extensive areas of unculti- 
vated land, but as yet no grants of land have been made 
in aid of railroads. The capital for their construction has 
mostly come from England. The state, however, as well 
as the separate provinces, has extensively guaranteed the 
payment of interest, usually at seven per cent, on railroad 
capital. Its annual burden for the payment of such in- 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 105 



terest amounts now to upward of three million dollars. 
The rails for all the roads have to be imported, and the 
greater part are purchased in England. The most of the 
locomotives, however, are imported from the United 
States. The coal consumed by the locomotives is also 
imported. At the close of 1886 it may be said there are 
four thousand miles of railway in operation in Brazil. 
There is scarcely a province bordering on the ocean but 
has one or more railways, and every one leads to the west 
or toward the interior. Several of the railroads that are 
in course of construction and that have received Govern- 
ment guarantee do not pay and are not likely to pay ex- 
penses for a long time. The " Jornal do Commercio," in 
an article of August 26, 1883, specified nine separate rail- 
ways with a total paid-up capital of forty million dollars, 
on which the Government had guaranteed the annual 
payment of interest at seven per cent, and which, with 
cost of inspection, made an annual charge of three million 
dollars, but which, however, were only a part of the 
state's liabilities. 

"If we are going," said the "Jornal," "to increase 
this already enormous liability without the greatest cir- 
cumspection, then bankruptcy, that word which has 
sported on the lips of so many of our politicians as the 
refrain of every opposition, may one day become a tre- 
mendous reality, sweeping away the credit which we have 
so scrupulously, but at the cost of such heavy sacrifices, 
succeeded in founding and keeping uninjured as the most 
precious treasure which the nation may one day be able 
to fall back upon should it ever find it necessary to do so." 
It is amazing how few carriage-roads have been built. A 
few good macadamized wagon-roads through the fertile 
parts of the empire, and extending across the whole of it, 



106 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



would form the nucleus of settlements. If I were the 
Emperor of Brazil, I would not wish to be known by 
any better title after my death than that of " The Road- 
builder." 

The usual rates of railway transportation are exceed- 
ingly high, namely : Textile and general goods, twenty- 
two cents per ton per mile ; railway-iron, iron-work for 
construction, agricultural implements, iron tubes, etc., 
eleven cents per ton per mile ; coffee, cotton, sugar, seven- 
teen cents per ton per mile. I have heard people say : 
"It is true there are splendid tracts of fertile land suitable 
for coffee or other plantations situated off a hundred miles 
or more from where railroads now end ; but it would not 
pay to cultivate them, because it would cost too much to 
bring the products to market." I am informed, however, 
that in the course of a few years railway charges will prob- 
ably be considerably reduced. Several of the railroads, 
which were at first imperfectly built, now clear twenty per 
cent on their capital ; they pay a dividend of ten per cent, 
and use the other ten per cent for permanent improve- 
ments. The time will come, therefore, when they can 
well afford to reduce their rates, and when competing 
lines will compel them to do so. 

Two of the railways in the province of Sao Paulo 
which pay good dividends — the Paulista and the Mogyana 
— appear to owe much of their financial success to the 
economy of their construction: the first, a broad-gauge 
]ine, one hundred and fifty miles long, cost fifty thousand 
dollars per mile ; and the other, a metre-gauge line, one 
hundred and ninety miles long, cost twenty thousand 
dollars per mile. Their cost of construction appears to 
have been economical, compared with most other railways 
in Brazil. 



SITUATION", KESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 107 



There are no roads having double tracks, and no roads 
running night passenger-trains. About one fourth of the 
roads are five feet three inches wide, and the remaining 
three fourths are of the metre gauge. The sleepers are 
filled in with earth, more or less sandy, taken from adja- 
cent cuttings, none of the roads being ballasted with stone. 
Only a few are fenced in. The speed of the so-called 
passenger-trains is, on the broad gauge, from twenty-eight 
to thirty miles an hour, and on the narrow gauge about 
twenty to twenty-two miles an hour. 

Several American as well as English civil engineers 
have gained well-merited distinction by their services in 
Brazil, but the field now appears to be almost wholly 
occupied by native talent. However, as is natural, sev- 
eral English railway companies employ English engineers. 
In subordinate positions in the Brazilian railway service 
the pay is poor, and no inducements exist for Americans. 

Brazil is not only on the east side of South America, 
but it stretches so far eastward that a line drawn due south 
from New York through South America would touch her 
most westerly limits. The sun rises much sooner on Brazil 
than it does on the New England States. 

In this connection it is well to have clearly fixed in 
mind the fact that the River Plate is not a Brazilian river. 
It empties into the Atlantic south of Brazil, at about the 
thirty-fifth degree of south latitude, and is the great water- 
way of three rising republics, which are Brazil's near and 
jealous neighbors on the south. The upper part of the 
river, forming the western boundary of the republic of 
Paraguay, is called the Paraguay, and its middle part is 
called the Parana. On the other hand, Brazil's great 
river Amazon empties into the Atlantic close to the equa- 
tor. It is a ten-days' voyage for a steamer from the mouth 



108 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



of one river to the other. What are known as the River 
Plate countries are the Argentine Republic and the two 
other republics of Uruguay and Paraguay. The last is 
an interior state, of good natural resources, lying west of 
southern Brazil, and has its outlet through the River 
Plate. Its area is equal to that of the two States of Illi- 
nois and Indiana together. It was greatly reduced by its 
long war under Lopez, and now has a population of less 
than half a million. Its products are mate-tea (its chief 
export), horned cattle, tobacco, maize, rice, cotton, and 
sugar ; and its total foreign commerce amounts to about 
four million dollars a year. The Republic of Uruguay, 
with a territorial extent about like Paraguay, fronts on 
the Atlantic and the north shore of the River Plate. Its 
capital, Montevideo, is an enterprising and pretty city, 
situated on elevated land, and has about two hundred 
thousand inhabitants. It is there that the South Atlantic 
naval squadron of the United States anchors during the 
hot season, November to June, returning to Rio in the 
latter month. The population of Uruguay is a little over 
half a million, and for such a population its foreign com- 
merce is remarkably large, being about forty million dol- 
lars a year. The principal industry is cattle- and sheep- 
raising, and the chief export is hides. But much the 
more important of the River Plate countries is the Argen- 
tine Republic, which has an area, including Patagonia, 
one third as great as that of Brazil. Its population, which 
is receiving important accessions annually from the south 
of Europe, amounts to about four millions. Its exports 
are principally wool, hides, cattle, and dry, salted meat ; 
and its total foreign commerce amounts to one hundred 
and twenty million dollars, the exports and imports being 
about equal. It has two thousand miles of railway in 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 109 



operation. Buenos Ayres, the capital, has three hundred 
thousand inhabitants, is situated on level ground, is built 
in a very regular manner, though many of its buildings 
are low, and is regarded as an enterprising and attractive 
city. A bright American business man, who has made 
several visits there, as well as to Rio, and of whom I in- 
quired how the cities compared with each other, declared, 
" Rio is a dog-hole compared with Buenos Ayres." Others 
with whom I have conversed, while admitting the latter 
to be the more regularly built city, have said that it had 
not as fine private residences as some that are to be seen 
at Rio. The climate of the Argentine Republic is such 
that wheat is becoming one of its successful and important 
crops ; and, as very much of its surface is level or moder- 
ately undulating, and devoid of timber, it is susceptible 
of a more rapid development than Brazil. Indeed, all 
three of these River Plate republics have good natural re- 
sources, and, if they are permitted to enjoy the blessings 
of peace and economical and impartial government, they 
are destined to make great progress. Being of Spanish 
origin, their language is the Spanish. These are the 
neighbors which Brazil has on her south and southwestern 
borders. 

With reference to climate, I must say that I have 
found more inconvenience from cold weather than from 
hot weather in Brazil. The trouble is, that there are about 
sixty mornings and evenings in the course of a year at Rio 
when a little fire in a dwelling is necessary for comfort, 
but none of the houses have any stoves, fireplaces, or 
even chimneys, except what are connected with the kitch- 
en. In the most southerly province, Rio Grande do Sul, 
snow frequently falls. On the undulating plains of Pa- 
rana, three thousand feet above the sea, the average daily 
10 



110 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



range of temperature in August is from 44° to 72° Fahr., 
and snow occasionally falls there in July, enough to en- 
tirely cover the ground. Even in the province of Per- 
nambuco, eight degrees south from the equator, country- 
men may be seen descending from the highlands, with 
their produce, dressed in fur-covered skins. The Ameri- 
can minister, Mr. Blow, writing from Petropolis, near 
Bio, July, 1870, mentions a frost that had occurred on the 
22d of June preceding, and which it was feared had 
greatly damaged the crops in that region. Ice formed 
that was nearly an inch thick ; but nothing similar had 
occurred since 1842. On the interior farming-lands, 
which are about two thousand feet above the sea, white 
frosts occur repeatedly, almost every year, say in the 
winter months of J une and July, and kill any bean-crops 
which, from having been planted late, are then growing. 
Mr. Lidgerwood, who is so well and favorably known in 
Brazil, through his machines for cleaning coffee, told me 
that one night in June, 1868, he rode muleback from 
Campinas to Jundiahy, province of Sao Paulo, where he 
found the ground white with frost, and that he never felt 
the cold so much as then, being so chilled and numb he 
could hardly step. As for the negro who was with him, 
he thought he was about frozen to death; he seemed 
hardly able to speak. All he could get out of him was a 
groan ! 

We must remember that when we get south of the 
equator the seasons come to a right-al)Out-face. While it 
is winter north of the equator, it is summer south of the 
equator. When it is summer in Europe and in the United 
States, and everything is green and tropical, then it is that 
people in Brazil are putting on their overcoats, and the 
leaves have totally fallen from many of the trees. In 



SITUATION, KESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. m 



Brazil, summer is in its full tropical glory in December 
and January. Hot weather prevails at Bio de Janeiro 
from October to May, say a period of seven months, dur- 
ing which there will be frequent spells, of a few days in 
succession, when, from ten o'clock in the forenoon till 
four o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature will be up 
to about 85° Fahr. in the shade. A few nights now and 
then will be uncomfortably warm. But, commonly, such 
hot spells, after continuing two or three clays, are followed 
by heavy rains, lasting through a night or day, and which 
leave the atmosphere fresh and pleasant for several days. 
The heat never appears to be as excessive as it is in many 
parts of the United States. Work goes on briskly all 
through the day. Deaths from sunstroke are exceedingly 
rare. The thunder and lightning are not terrific, and 
cyclones and hurricanes scarcely ever occur. The winter 
months of Bio are in the main what, in the United States, 
we would regard as pleasant summer weather. In that 
season a gentleman, starting out in the morning and going 
in an open street-car, would be likely every day to take a 
light overcoat with him, and generally to wear it. At 
that season, although many of the trees have a naked ap- 
pearance, and show that Nature is taking a rest, still there 
are always enough that are covered with green foliage, 
together with the flowers and shrubbery that are culti- 
vated in thousands of pretty gardens, to give one, and 
especially a stranger, the impression that it is still summer. 
On the whole, I regard the climate of Bio as charming, 
and, remembering the severity of our North American 
winters, I am perhaps more inclined to value a climate in 
which people can be out in the open air every day in the 
year without danger. From all that I can learn, the cli- 
mate of the city of Pernambuco is the most delightful of 



112 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSFEOTS. 



any in Brazil. Though a little more damp, it has not the 
extremes of heat and cold of Bio de Janeiro. All the 
year round it is favored with the fresh sea-breeze. 

Take the whole country of Brazil, and the climate is 
salubrious. It is true that many people living in the wild 
valleys of great rivers that annually overflow suffer much 
from intermittent fever, but they are poorly housed and 
fed. The yellow fever could be entirely exterminated, as 
it ought to be, from such places as Bio, by the adoption 
of rigorous sanitary measures. The improvement already 
made in this regard has proved an important barrier 
against its ravages. I do not wish, however, to give a 
too rose-colored view of the salubrity of the climate. Un- 
acclimated strangers coming to Brazil are exposed to some 
dangers. European governments, which give pensions to 
their civil officers after about thirty years' service, allow 
one year's service in Brazil to count as two years, on ac- 
count of the supposed perils of the climate. Facts are 
cited by Brazilian writers to show that intermittent fever 
is sometimes more prevalent on high than on low land. 
Thus, a violent epidemic of this fever prevailed among 
the workmen building the railroad over the mountain- 
range of Maromby, in the province of Parana, while there 
was very little of it among the workmen on that part of 
the line through the swampy lowlands between Boca-Nova 
and Curitiba. Also, in constructing the water-reservoir 
in the Tijuca Mountains, this fever was prevalent. This 
confirms experience in Italy, where it has been found that 
two thirds of the places where fever prevailed were among 
hills and mountains. 

Mrs. Agassiz, writing at Para, August 14, 1865, says : 
" We are very agreeably surprised in the climate here. I 
had expected, from the moment of our arrival in the 



SITUATION, EESOUKCES, AND CLIMATE. H3 



region of the Amazons, to be gasping in a fierce, uninter- 
mitting, intolerable beat. On the contrary, the mornings 
are fresb ; a walk or ride between six and eight o'clock is 
always delightful, and though, during the middle of the 
day, the heat is certainly very great, it cools off again 
toward four o'clock. The evenings are delightful, and 
the nights always comfortable. Even in the hottest part 
of the day the heat is not dead ; there is always a breeze 
stirring." 

Senator Henrique d'Avila, a rich stock-raiser in the 
province of Bio Grande do Sul (the most southerly part 
of Brazil), also ex-Minister of the Department of Agri- 
culture and Public Works, imparted some valuable infor- 
mation in regard to recent changes of climate and droughts 
in that province, in a speech which he made in the Senate 
on the 13th of July, 1884. Senator Martins had stated 
that Bio Grande do Sul had not been scourged by droughts 
like the province of Ceara, and, in reply to this, M. d' Avila 
affirmed that his province had suffered such formidable 
droughts as to cause poverty and ruin to many of the in- 
habitants. They had had, he said, a drought lasting two 
or three years, by which many stock-raisers lost almost all 
their cattle, and, both in Bio Grande and the adjoining 
state of Uruguay, there had been farms in the interior 
districts without one single head of cattle. The cattle 
had died, or fled for water, so that nearly all were lost. 
In regard to wheat-culture, it was not abandoned, as had 
been alleged, because cattle-raising was more lucrative, 
but in consequence of the irregularity of the climate and 
damage by rust. Formerly, in Bio Grande, the winter 
weather was uniformly cold, with occasional ice ; rain 
came in its proper season, and the summers were always 
warm, with more or less intensity, according to the month. 



114 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



"Wheat, after it had germinated and well put forth, re- 
quired frost, and did not prosper without it. His prov- 
ince had changed so much in its seasons that in the month 
of December (middle of summer) they had strong frosts, 
with ice, as in winter, and in July and August they had 
such heat as to cause premature germination of seed. In 
consequence of such irregularity in the seasons, as had 
occurred for several years in the province of Rio Grande, 
the planters of wheat began to despond, seeing that they 
could no longer harvest the crops of former times, and 
which, indeed, had been the foundation of their wealth. 
There were many fortunes to-day whose foundation had 
been the production of wheat in previous good times. 
Consequently, Eio Grande do Sul was in perfectly the 
same condition as the province of Oeara. 

"Without doubt,' 5 continued Senator d'Avila, "Rio 
Grande do Sul has magnificent forests in her mountains ; 
so has Oeara mountain riches that are never touched by 
drought, which constantly have water, water permanently, 
but the mountains can not save the valleys of Oeara. Rio 
Grande do Sul has fine forests in her mountains but none 
in the valley, which comprises the south part of the 
province." 

Senator Martins : " But it has water." 

Senator d'Avila : " Our rivers dry up. The Santa 
Maria, when I was at Uruguayana (southwestern frontier 
of Brazil) and crossed it, was completely dry. The 
drought was such that we had no water to give to the 
animals which we took, and some of which perished for 
want of water. I believe the Government ought to cause 
studies to be made, as it did in Oeara, for irrigating dif- 
ferent provinces — such as Rio Grande do Sul, the interior 
of Bahia and Pernambuco, and the region of the upper 



SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE. 115 



Sao Francisco Yalley ; in short, to ascertain, if possible, 
whether their waters could not be canalized so as to afford 
irrigation. We have equally in Ceara and Rio Grande do 
Sul little dams to make small reservoirs on small streams. 
There are owners of ranches of four or five leagues of 
land, and who have a natural supply of water only at one 
extreme end of the pasture or campo, and so, not to make 
the cattle travel different times in the day a distance of 
two, three, or more leagues, to drink, they make little 
ponds by dams. An uncle of mine, living near the Jagu- 
aro Biver, had one of these in which he also had excellent 
fish, but the drought of one year caused it to dry up." 

The average temperature at Para is 80°. The sum- 
mer temperature at Rio de Janeiro is about 75°, and the 
winter temperature 65°. The prevailing winds are from 
the east, and always secure to the country, as a whole, an 
abundance of earth-fattening rain. 



CHAPTEE VIII, 



AMERICAN-BRAZILIAN RELATIONS. 

Like the Americans, the Brazilians take more interest 
in what occurs in Enrope than in any other part of 
the outside world. They concern themselves very little 
about what takes place in the United States. If a great 
disaster happens, like the burning of the Brooklyn Theatre, 
or a President is assassinated, they may possibly get the 
tidings of such a catastrophe by telegraph in the course 
of two or three clays. Our presidential elections are im- 
portant, and the result of a State election like that in the 
State of Maine on the 8th of September, two months 
before the presidential election, would be regarded by 
everybody posted in American affairs as indicative of the 
greater contest in November, and, of course, would be 
promptly cabled to the London newspapers ; but no news 
whatever about that election came to Brazil. A leading 
journal publishes a tolerably fair letter from a New York 
correspondent once about every two months; but the 
same journal prints seventy-five letters from Europe to 
one that it prints from the United States. 

The London daily journals of March 9, 1885, and of 
some preceding dates, arrived at Kio de Janeiro March 
27th. As usual, their telegraphic columns were filled 



AMERICAN-BRAZILIAN RELATIONS. 117 



with news from all the principal countries, and the " Jor- 
nal do Commercio " of Rio de Janeiro on the following 
morning, as is its custom, had a column filled with a 
synopsis of news from different countries, especially from 
European countries. These London papers contained un- 
usually important news from the United States — the in- 
auguration of the new President, Mr. Cleveland, his in- 
augural address in full, the names of his Cabinet minis- 
ters; the appointment of General Grant as general on 
the retired list of the army ; also, the announcement of 
General Grant's alarming illness and probability of his 
early decease. American news is first received at Bio 
through the London daily newspapers, and all these facts 
made an unusual amount of news to come by one mail. 
Wow, would it be thought that the synopsis of news in 
the Rio paper from the London journals contained no 
reference whatever to the United States — not a word 
about the inauguration of the new President, or of the 
dangerous illness of General and ex-President Grant? 
Yet such was the case. l>To allusion was made to any- 
thing that had occurred in the United States. 'Nov had 
any of this news from the United States been published 
in any of the Eio journals. This is according to the 
usual custom ; and I think it shows very clearly that the 
Brazilians take little note or interest of what transpires in 
the North American republic. 

I make no complaint about this ; I merely state the 
facts. Probably it is natural that the Brazilians should 
have their minds more constantly fixed on Europe than 
upon the " Grand Republic," as they speak of our coun- 
try when they wish to be very polite, though their news- 
papers frequently style the Americans " Yankees. 5 ' Any- 
how it is well for our Mr. Spread-Eagle to know that the 



118 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



whole of mankind does not always have its admiring gaze 
fixed on our country. Still, I think there is in the deep 
current of Brazilian sentiment and thought a feeling of 
respect and regard for the United States. I am led to 
this conclusion for various reasons. It is certain that the 
Brazilians recognize America's inventive and literary 
genius. They know Longfellow at least, and they know 
that the telegraph, the sewing-machine, and the Atlantic 
cable started on their mighty errands from our shores. 
They unite with people everywhere in revering such 
American characters as "Washington, Franklin, and Lin- 
coln. In common with most other countries they have 
had proofs of the traditional moderation and justice of 
the American Government in its dealings with foreign 
countries. As straws show which way the wind blows, I 
would mention that I once attended in Rio de Janeiro a 
sleight-of-hand entertainment in the principal theatre, 
where there was an audience of about two thousand per- 
sons. One of the tricks of the performer was to draw out 
of a bottle the flags, one by one, of different nations, each 
being saluted with more or less applause. The Brazilian 
flag, of course, received the most favor, and quite a hearty 
round of applause greeted the Stars and Stripes. It seemed 
to me the American flag was next in favor to the Brazil- 
ian, and I remember to. have experienced a feeling of de- 
lighted surprise at the incident. The Americans are 
Brazil's best customers, and, on grounds of interest, the 
Brazilians ought to be very friendly to the United States. 
It is a fact, however, that during our civil war Brazilian 
sympathy, unlike that of Russia, was with the South. 

Steamships like the Oregon, which lately made the 
passage from Queenstown to New York in six days and 
ten hours, would make the voyage from New York to 



AMERICAN-BBAZILIAN RELATIONS. H9 



Rio de Janeiro in eleven days and a half, whereas those 
now running occupy twice that time. Such a line would/' 
give our country a prestige in South America which she 
now greatly lacks. It would revolutionize trade in favor 
of Americans. "With the new railroad development that 
is taking place, and the large immigration from Europe 
to the four countries of the Argentine Kepublic, Uru- 
guay, Paraguay, and Brazil, there will necessarily be an 
increase of the foreign trade of those countries, and an 
enterprising and seasonable step on the part of Americans 
is indispensable if they would have a large share of it. 
At present twenty steamships a month from leading Eu- 
ropean ports arrive at Rio de Janeiro to one steamship 
that arrives there from the United States ! Increased 
means of transportation from the United States to Brazil 
would greatly help American trade. At the same time, 
we must bear in mind that our export trade is mainly 
dependent on the goodness and cheapness of our com- 
modities. 

The Americans import from Brazil, and mostly from 
Rio, over three hundred million pounds of coilee a year, 
some of which, probably, is afterward sold as Java. It 
costs, delivered in New York, including the Brazilian 
export tax, ten cents a pound. Its transportation from 
Eio to New York — five thousand miles — is remarkably 
cheap, yet profitable to the carrier, being only forty cents 
a bag, or less than a third of a cent per pound. "Why is 
it carried so cheaply ? Because there are so many British 
and other foreign steamships in South American waters. 
They go from Europe with goods for Brazil and the River 
Plate, and need return-cargoes. About two of these 
steamers leave Bio every week for New York, and go 
thence to Liverpool. Americans save two million dollars 



120 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



a year in freight on their coffee, through this abundance 
of foreign shipping. The present American line of 
steamers between New York and Rio is a help to our 
export trade to Brazil, but has small influence on freight 
from Brazil. Brazil's imports amount to eighty million 
dollars a year, of which the United States contributes nine 
millions. Our chief export to that country is flour ; but 
we also send much kerosene, many locomotives, and other 
, machinery. People ask, " Why don't we export more 
goods to Brazil ? 55 Partly because the Brazilians have not 
the money to buy more, partly for lack of more frequent 
communication, and partly because they can get suited 
better elsewhere. There are, I repeat, twenty steamships 
a month arriving in Brazil from Europe to one that ar- 
rives from the United States, and goods can be got there 
more cheaply from Europe than from the United States. 
There is at Rio an American who sells the planters much 
machinery for hulling coffee, but who manufactures his 
machines in Scotland, because he can do so cheaper than 
in his own country. Bio consumes thirty thousand bar- 
rels of flour a month, mostly American. The bread is all 
made by bakers, and, though very good, it is not likely 
the consumption will increase rapidly, unless times become 
flush. The finances of all the South American countries 
are so depressed, their currency so depreciated, and their 
need for high import taxes so imperative, that we should 
not entertain extravagant ideas of beneficial reciprocal 
relations with them. 

American manufactures generally have a good name 
in Brazil, and it stands our manufacturers in hand to con- 
tinue to put conscience in their goods. A contrary course 
will soon wind up any trade. Brazilian importers some- 
times say the Americans have such a great home market 



AMERICAN-BRAZILIAN RELATIONS. 121 



that they don't wish to trouble themselves about exporting 
to foreign countries. The Brazilians have been accustomed 
to rather long credits, and the general impression is, that 
Europeans have been more ready to indulge them in this 
regard than our people. Americans intending to begin 
an export trade with Brazil, no matter how excellent their 
goods may be, must expect at first to make some sacrifice. 
It is as much as the Brazilian consignee can do to sell 
goods whose mark and quality are well known. It is 
more than he can be expected to do to urge upon custom- 
ers goods of an unknown character. He will not do this, 
and an exporter, introducing an article whose name and 
character the Brazilian merchant is unacquainted with, 
must be content to sell it at some loss till it gets favorably 
known. After that he may expect to establish a remu- 
nerative trade. 

Can any benefit be secured through a reciprocity 
treaty? The Brazilians appreciate the great advantage 
their country derives by the extensive import of their 
coffee into the United States free of duty. Most other 
countries, including Great Britain, impose an import tax 
on coffee, rising all the way from three cents to fourteen 
cents per pound, which last is the rate imposed by France. 
Its admission free of duty into the United States is sub- 
stantially a donation of several million dollars a year to 
the treasury of Brazil, she having thereby been able to 
collect an increased export tax from it, amounting, impe- 
rial and provincial together, to eleven per cent. This has 
helped her, probably, in spite of her bad finances, to late- 
ly procure two of the most powerful ships of war that 
are anywhere afloat, and which are better than any the 
United States possesses. Although there has not been 
much expression of gratitude for these benefits, Brazil 
11 



122 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITIO!* AND PROSPECTS. 



would now, I am sure, promptly negotiate with the 
United States a reciprocity treaty, which would amelio- 
rate our trade with her in some degree ; but her financial 
situation is so straitened that she could not and would 
not grant us those benefits which ordinarily we would 
have a right to expect, and which would correspond with 
the advantage we afford her in admitting coffee free. 

The tendency of Brazil to develop home manufactures 
under her high protective tariff will naturally cause a de- 
cline in some articles of our exports, and yet our exports 
as a whole may continue to increase. The number of her 
cotton-mills is steadily increasing. There are cotton-mills 
in the city of Rio run by steam with imported coal, that 
are paying well. A cotton-mill at Macaco, an hour by 
railway from Rio, which was burned some time ago, has 
recently been rebuilt, and has eight hundred looms in 
operation. It has water-power, and facilities for steam- 
power in dry weather. It makes not only common white 
cloth, but colored and mixed cloths for men's cheap cloth- 
ing, and is earning very handsome profits. Already there 
are many cotton-factories in the country, and their num- 
ber is sure to increase. Manufacturing activity in Brazil 
will make an increased demand for machinery. As an 
example, there has lately been a large company formed in 
the province of Minas-Geraes for the manufacture of lard, 
which has sent to the United States an agent to purchase 
machinery for the equipment of the factory. Indeed, it 
seems reasonable that, in proportion as the industrial skill 
and activity of the Brazilians increase, will their general 
power of consumption likewise increase. Let a cotton- 
factory be started in a place which is now a solitude : 
the hundreds of operatives which it will assemble, and 
who will help to form the village around it, will soon 



AMERICAN BRAZILIAN RELATIONS. 123 



begin to wear shoes and stockings instead of going bare- 
footed as they have been accustomed to do. Their wants 
will increase, and the receipt of regular wages will develop 
among them a power of purchase which before was al- 
most a blank. Manufacturers help to civilize, and civili- 
zation makes trade. 

I am aware of the deep interest that is felt in the 
United States in respect of the increase of our export 
trade, and especially the increase of exports to Brazil — by 
far the most populous and important of the South Ameri- 
can countries. While it is desirable that every pains be 
taken to expand our export trade with Brazil, the situa- 
tion of our trade with this country is not, however, so un- 
favorable as some persons have been led to suppose. We 
buy from Brazil about thirty million dollars 5 worth of 
coffee, eight million dollars' worth of rubber and sugar, 
hides, and other products amounting in all to upward of 
fifty million dollars, and in time of high prices sixty mill- 
ion dollars per annum. None of these things which we 
buy of Brazil are for vanity and show, but they are all 
useful and good for our people, because they are impor- 
tant elements in our industrial and social prosperity. The 
coffee is cheap and good, and gives cheer to the tables of 
the rich and poor alike. The rubber which we buy is 
worked up by our ingenious artisans to the great profit of 
our industry. Now, because Brazil in return buys only 
nine or ten million dollars' worth of our goods, does it 
prove that we are doing a losing business with her ? May 
we not be doing a trade with her that is actually quite 
profitable to our people ? Is it not something such a case 
as this ? A is a large manufacturer of pianos, which he 
sells in different markets at a good profit. He buys the 
larger share of his wood and material of B, because he 



124 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



can buy it cheaper of B than of any one else. Now, be- 
cause B does not take bis pay in pianos, is there any 
ground for A complaining that his trade with him is un- 
favorable ? The circumstances are not exactly the same, 
but the principle is much the same, in respect of the bal- 
ance of trade between the United States and Brazil. 

Diplomatic and consular officers, if competent and 
properly sustained, can be useful in promoting trade and 
friendly relations. One of our ablest American Secre- 
taries of State, Mr. Marcy, in a report to Congress, said : 
"The object of diplomatic missions is to adjust differ- 
ences and conduct affairs between governments in regard 
to their political and commercial relations, and to furnish 
the Government at home with information touching the 
country to which the mission is accredited, more full and 
more accurate than might be obtained through the ordi- 
nary channels, or more promptly than the same informa- 
tion might otherwise be received." That our Govern- 
ment may not make an improper demand on a foreign 
country, and one that it will be obliged finally to recede 
from with loss of credit, it is of the utmost importance 
that it be supplied with information, in case of some sud- 
den emergency, of a perfectly reliable character. Its rep- 
resentatives abroad, therefore, both diplomatic and consu- 
lar, should have that position and consideration, in the 
places where they are employed, that they would have 
ready access to the very best sources of information, so 
that they could truly and promptly report to their Gov- 
ernment in any sudden emergency. Access to such infor- 
mation requires friendly social relations with the leading 
and most influential people ; relations which can only be 
maintained by character and a hospitable style of living. 
Unfortunately, our American diplomatic and consular 



AMERICAN-BRAZILIAN RELATIONS. 



125 



service has not been and is not half as well sustained as 
that of the leading European countries. Our practice in 
this regard has been eminently " pound foolish and penny 
wise." How insignificant would be the cost of such serv- 
ice on a liberal scale, compared with the vast outlay when 
once a country is obliged to drop peaceful remedies and 
resort to force ! A small example of this occurs to me. 
Mr. "Welles, Secretary of the Navy, writing November 
18, 1868, relative to a movement against Paraguay, states 
that on a former occasion, when a demonstration was made 
against Paraguay, a naval force of light-draught vessels 
was sent out, and that the expedition " cost the Govern- 
ment several million dollars." For much less money than 
that the Government could have maintained a full em- 
bassy in Paraguay, in a palace, a hundred years ! 



CHAPTEE IX. 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 



Ik the early part of August, 1883, I, with my family, 
made a trip into the great province of Minas-Geraes as 
far as the town of Barbacena, which, though on an ordi- 
nary atlas appears to be close to the sea- coast, is yet two 
hundred and thirty-four miles distant from Bio, by rail- 
way, in the interior. In going we went a roundabout 
way by Petropolis and returned direct by rail. We left 
our residence in Bua (Jardim) das Larangeiras at 1.45 
p. m., Monday July 30th, and drove to the Petropolis 
steamboat, distant three miles, arriving considerably ahead 
of time. The weather had been unusually warm that 
day, but the sky was overcast, the distant mountains con- 
siderably hidden by clouds, and the breeze from across 
the bay felt damp but fresh. The harbor seemed very 
quiet. Six or eight large steamers were lying in sight, 
among them the American steamship Finance, which had 
her colors displayed and steam making, apparently for 
the continuation of her voyage to Santos — then an excep- 
tional movement. A few little boats with freight were 
moving about; and just in front of us a large three- 
masted sailing-vessel, with white-painted hull and heavily 
loaded, was being towed by a propeller. The cabin of 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 



127 



our boat had a number of settees on each side facing the 
direction we were going, and on one of these near a win- 
dow we took our places, and went to reading some late 
American newspapers. The boat started at six minutes 
after three o'clock, and at half-past three we were pass- 
ing near Government Island — the longest and largest of 
the numerous islands in the Bio Bay, covered with low 
green foliage, and along the edge of which are a number 
of white cottages of working - people. Afterward we 
passed another island which was particularly pretty from 
the varied colors of its foliage — dark and light green — 
also the russet-colored tops of the mango-trees of different 
shades, from the russet to an orange tint. The shores 
were somewhat rocky, with occasional exposed places of 
red soil. To our front and right were other smaller isl- 
ands, bearing small palms, banana-trees, and green bushes 
of various shades. On hill-sides were one or two cleared 
patches. The highest land of any of the islands did not 
exceed one hundred and fifty feet. Looking backward 
on our right, the hills back of Nictheroy and the Sugar- 
Loaf were visible, while directly behind the boat was Rio, 
dimly seen through the heavy atmosphere. In front, at a 
distance, were high mountains draped with fleecy clouds. 

Besides ourselves there were in the cabin eleven adult 
passengers and five children. The cabin-floor was uncar- 
peted and clean. After an hour's passage on the boat we 
landed and walked a short distance to the railway upon 
which, after half an hour's run through a level, and for 
the first part swampy, bush-covered, wild, and thriftless- 
looking country, though containing an occasional dwelling 
and some patches of corn and mandioca, also a few orange 
and banana trees, the foot of the mountains was reached. 
Then at a slow pace the cars were pushed up the mount- 



128 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND- PROSPECTS. 



ain's side over a surface well wooded with deciduous trees 
and exposing many big granite rocks. The first half of 
the way the soil is a red clay mixed with granite, but ap- 
proaching the summit it becomes a brown loam. We 
pass granite cuts near enough to tonch the sides, also 
high, almost overhanging, rocks, and occasionally a de- 
clivity a hundred feet or more down and somewhat start- 
ling. For a part of the way the track follows the rocky 
course of a clear stream. Here and there the old, wind- 
ing carriage-road with its high stone embankment is visi- 
ble. The vegetation is abundant, the trees being tall and 
some of large size. Sometimes the views are fine, but on 
this occasion they were all shut out by wet clouds which 
actually enveloped us. Three quarters of an hour are oc- 
cupied in ascending the mountain and in the short de- 
scent on the other side into Petropolis, making about two 
and a half hours for the whole trip. We reached the 
place at half-past five o'clock and drove to our hotel. 
As Petropolis is a very quiet place, it is the queer fashion 
there for people, even of the genteel class, to go to the 
railway-station at the time the train arrives; and there 
was quite a collection of people at the station the evening 
we arrived there. 

The next day we made some excursions through and 
around the city, and very much enjoyed seeing the pretty 
villas with fine flower-gardens, the excellent macadamized 
roads, and the pebble-bottomed streams. The situation 
of Petropolis, in the mountains twenty-four hundred feet 
above the sea, is very pleasant and healthful ; and foreign- 
ers arriving at Eio de Janeiro during the warm season 
between November and June, and finding the heat too 
great, or yellow fever prevailing, can obtain a quick and 
perfectly safe retreat at this mountain resort. The Em- 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 



129 



peror's summer villa was built there about forty years 
ago, and, as improvements have been going on ever since, 
it has become a most attractive as well as healthful and 
fashionable summer resort — the principal one, indeed, in 
Brazil. The diplomatic body usually go there bag and 
baggage at the same time as the court, and stay as long, 
which is generally from December till June. Petropolis 
lies in the valleys of three clear streams, which have been 
so improved by the engineer and gardener that they are 
quite a feature of the place. Their banks are even with 
the macadamized street or road on either side, but their 
channels are ten to fifteen feet deep, with sloping and 
trim, grass-covered sides. They flow gently over smooth, 
pebbly bottoms, and, though usually shallow, sometimes 
after a heavy rain overflow their banks. They are crossed 
by a number of foot and other bridges having bright-red 
railings, and shade-trees are growing along their banks. 
Two of these streams coming from opposite directions in 
the same street unite in the square of Dom Pedro II, 
and, after flowing through the centers of several other 
streets in a similar deep channel, are joined by another 
stream of like character, the whole forming a considerable 
river, which still runs for some distance in the limits of 
the town, and then over numerous foaming rapids de- 
scends the western slope of the mountains to the broad 
Parahyba. Petropolis includes in its limits several con- 
ical hills, about five hundred feet high, composed of fer- 
tile red soil, mostly covered with a young growth of 
forest, ever verdant, but somewhat variegated, and in 
which the dark green of the gracefully clustered bamboo 
and the lighter shades of the banana are noticeable. Some 
of the hill-sides show patches of cultivation and tidy- 
looking cottages. Fine mountain scenery is visible in 



130 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



various directions. There are several extended and ample 
streets, a number of which, are level, containing many 
separate,, spacious, and tasteful dwellings, with the grounds, 
lawns, shrubbery, and flowers which so much adorn the 
country home, and which seem to find in the temperature 
of Petropolis their natural clime. The Emperor's villa is 
of a yellowish-brown color, and rather plain, but has about 
twelve acres of ground with trees and plants. 

Petropolis, being named after the Emperor, and indeed 
founded by him, is naturally the object of his deep in- 
terest. The place with its outskirts affords many miles of 
pleasant carriage driveway over smooth roads. Its busi- 
ness is confined to one central street, on which is the rail- 
way-station. The working population is nearly all Ger- 
man or of German descent, and good order and quiet pre- 
vail. There are several tolerably comfortable hotels, with 
board at two dollars and twenty-five cents a day. As 
might be supposed, Petropolis has frequent spells of rainy 
weather, which sometimes last fully three days. In al- 
most every month, too, there are some mornings and even- 
ings which are cold enough to render a fire indispensable 
for comfort ; but at present only a few houses are pro- 
vided with heating accommodations. With good open 
fireplaces in the houses, and a sufficiency of dry fuel, the 
sanitary condition of the place would become greatly im- 
proved. 

There is one train a day from Petropolis to Rio, start- 
ing at 7 a. m. The fare each way is three dollars. A few 
business men make the round trip daily, and state that 
they find it less fatiguing than the trip between Eio and 
Tijuca. 

Having engaged transportation the preceding after- 
noon, we, on Thursday morning at five o'clock, left Pe- 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 131 



tropolis by stage on the celebrated Juiz de Fora carriage- 
road for Entre Kios, there to take the railway for Barba- 
cena. We three happened to be the only passengers. 
The stage was drawn by four mules, which were changed 
at every station of eight miles. We made good time, as 
the road was smooth (thongh I noticed it was getting 
worn and out of repair), and reached Entre Kios at about 
ten o'clock, in season for the express-train from Rio. The 
scenery was interesting all the way. Entre Rios seemed 
a brisk and important business place, especially for for- 
warding produce, and appeared to have a few thousand 
inhabitants. Continuing our journey from here on by 
rail, we reached our stopping-place, Barbacena, shortly 
after four. Carriages in city style, drawn by mules, were 
at the station, but before I could get our trunk they had 
all disappeared with other passengers ; however, one soon 
came back in which we were taken to the Italian Hotel, 
the principal one in the place. We found the weather 
uncomfortably cold and damp. No fires, and beds had to 
be warmed with bottles of hot water; sleeping-rooms 
small, beds too short, big cracks in the floor through which 
one could look into an untidy room below. Dinner at 
the hotel was fair, but the breakfast the next morning 
was better, and consisted of fried potatoes, fried eggs in 
peas, tenderloin of pork roasted, fried beef, coffee, and 
good bread. After our dinner we took a walk through 
the town before dark. Barbacena is an old town on a 
ridge of land, has two long streets paved with rough but 
now smoothly worn stones, and which are flanked by con- 
tinuous low buildings. There are three old but rather 
neat-looking churches, with shrubbery and trees in their 
grounds. About the only evidence of life noticeable in 
this walk was a brass band practicing in some upper room. 



132 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Could we have been comfortably settled, it was our in- 
tention to spend several days in the place, and to make 
some excursions into the surrounding country. But, on 
account of the raw, chilly temperature in-doors, we de- 
cided to start homeward the next morning. Both in go- 
ing and coming I made many notes as to the appearance 
of the country, the better to fix the facts in my mind. 
The route from Rio to Barbacena by railway is through 
one of the oldest and best coffee-producing districts in 
Brazil, and in that distance passes through sixteen tunnels 
and crosses two separate mountain-ranges about as high as 
the Alleghanies where crossed by the Pennsylvania Cen- 
tral Railroad, and which are covered with a fair but not 
dense growth of hard-wood trees, and, on the more ele- 
vated parts, some tropical pines of medium size. It is 
between these mountain-ranges that the road winds for 
sixty miles along the banks of the wide but frequently 
shallow Parahyba River. 

The country generally is exceedingly broken and hilly, 
the hills for the most part being twice as high as the bluffs 
of the upper Mississippi, and of conical form. They 
seem to vary from one hundred to one thousand feet in 
height, and often reach the dignity of mountains. Where 
uncultivated, they bear thrifty yet small second-growth 
timber ; but, after getting in the vicinity of Barbacena, 
they become devoid of timber, and in the dry, or winter 
season — which was the time of our trip — have the brown 
and smooth appearance of a closely fed sheep-pasture. 
Yery few rocks are to be seen ; but in some places ant- 
hills, of smooth, hard exterior, the color of the soil, and 
four or five feet high, are disagreeably numerous. The 
prevailing character of the soil is a red clay, mixed with 
gravel, and is evidently fertile, but there is nothing aston- 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 



133 



ishing or particularly beautiful in the natural vegetation. 
At long intervals some fine, tall trees, with large and 
handsome orange-colored blossoms, may be seen, and there 
is occasionally a blending of colors that about equals, but 
certainly does not surpass, the North American foliage 
after an autumn frost, where, on some forest hill-side, the 
green and the scarlet, the orange and the crimson, are 
richly mingled. There are some fences of rails laid upon 
crotched stakes, but the division lines between estates 
often consist of ditches, with the earth thrown up on one 
side, resembling rifle-pits or field fortifications, and which, 
being straight and of a red color, are at a distance inter- 
esting objects. Not more than a twentieth part of the 
land is under cultivation, and some of it appears to have 
been worn out and abandoned. The sight, now and then, 
of a pack of mules, with produce strung over their backs 
in baskets or bales, and the most primitive of wooden and 
squeaking-wheeled ox-carts — the axle revolving with the 
wheels — carts such as might have come into Portugal with 
the first Roman or Phoenician colony, also the absence of 
all modern agricultural implements, tell of an antiquated 
system of agriculture. Indeed, for the most of the way 
along this route, the surface of the ground is so abruptly 
broken that it is scarcely possible to use the plow, let 
alone the planter and other modern implements. The 
hoe is necessarily almost the sole implement of field-culti- 
vation, and it is twice as large and heavy as the hoe which 
the American and European farmer is accustomed to 
use. 

The leading crop of this region is coffee, plantations 

of which are to be seen as far out as the neighborhood of 

Retiro, one hundred and sixty-five miles from Rio de 

Janeiro. As a rule, the soil on the coffee-plantations is 
12 



134: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



kept as clean and free of weeds as are the corn-fields of 
the most careful American farmers, who are accustomed 
to till the soil with their own hands. The coffee-tree, as 
it is called, is a bush from six to eight feet high. The 
red soil is just visible between the rows of trees, so that 
at a distance a plantation has a striped appearance of green 
and red, which is very pretty. After the fruit has been 
stripped off, and much of the f oliage with it, the tops of 
the trees have a slightly bluish tinge. 

There are some separate coffee-plantations which cover 
several thousand acres, and which, stretching as they do 
over bold, circling undulations, present a beautiful and 
even grand picture. Not the rich, grass-carpeted valley 
of the Po, with its plantations of the mulberry, the wil- 
low, and the vine, nor the blooming cotton-fields of Texas, 
nor any agricultural scene that I have anywhere witnessed, 
in the Old "World or the "New, can rival the beauty and 
magnificence of one of the finely cultivated, mountain- 
covered plantations of coffee in Brazil. Visible from the 
railroad are a few, but only a few, handsome residences 
of coffee-planters. 

On this route are several neat-looking villages, and two 
or three towns that may number six thousand inhabitants. 
Among these, Juiz de Fora is perhaps the prettiest, and 
is situated on sloping ground, with a hill, apparently of 
granite, just behind it. Barbacena, a city with cobble- 
paved streets, and situated on high ground, is reputed as 
healthful, and has a large and fairly kept hotel. In all 
these villages and towns not a chimney is visible. The 
houses are generally one to two stories high, the walls 
stuccoed in white, and sometimes blue, pink, yellow, or 
green color. The roofs are four-sided, low, and covered 
with heavy red tiles. The aspect of the villages and 



A TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR. 



135 



towns, amid a variety of trees, including generally the 
banana and palm, is, on the whole, cheerful, and the in- 
habitants, so* far as the traveler by railway can judge, are 
temperate and contented. The houses, or rather huts, of 
the poor are built of unburned bricks, are of a brown or 
earth color, have wooden window-shutters, but no glass 
windows, and usually palm-thatched roofs. Generally, 
near the house is a little patch of ground fenced with up- 
right poles of irregular height. Mules, goats, and hogs 
are the kinds of live-stock most commonly seen. The 
railway-station buildings, though not spacious, are out- 
wardly neat. They are of concrete, a story and a half 
high, with projecting tiled roofs, walls white and thick, 
with a strip two feet in width painted red around the 
base, for an imitation foundation. The station Sitio, at 
the foot of the Mantiqueira range, has an attractive flower- 
garden attached to it, as is the excellent custom in some 
of the countries in the north of Europe, and which always 
make an agreeable impression on the traveler. 

The railway on this line is owned and managed by the 
Government. The employes wear citizen's clothing, and 
are unpretentious in their manners. The cars were made 
in Brazil, the inside finish being of light-colored hard 
wood, with cane-seated, high-back chairs, in pairs, perma- 
nently fixed, and facing each other, on each side of the 
car, with a passage-way in the center. Closets are at- 
tached to the cars, after the American system. It is the 
fashion among Brazilian male passengers to wear brown 
or white linen overcoats to keep off the dust, and to smoke 
cigarettes in any car, as a matter of course. There are no 
separate cars for ladies. There is no discrimination on 
account of color. In going from Bio passengers get a 
late breakfast at Barra de Pirahy, and on the return trip 



136 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



dine at the same place. One dollar is charged for a meal. 
Pure and good black coffee, in small cups, with other re- 
freshments, is served at Entre Rios, and several other 
places. On the whole, I think that American visitors to 
Brazil would find a trip into the interior, on this or some 
other route, highly interesting, and such as would leave 
lasting and agreeable impressions on the mind. 



CHAPTEE X. 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATIOX. 

Slo Paulo, besides its seaport, Santos, and its capital, 
the city of Sao Paulo, contains several important business 
centers, and, as it is supposed to possess the best agricult- 
ural resources of any province, I desired to make a visit 
there at the first convenient opportunity. My interest 
had been increased by hearing people speak of its capital 
as being the most American of any city in Brazil. The 
day fixed for starting was the 1st of May, 1884, and, as I 
was to be accompanied by my wife and daughter, we all 
thought it would be the more pleasant to go by steamship 
from Rio to Santos, and return to Rio by rail, which we 
did. We embarked at noon, on the steamship Crown 
Prince Frederick "William, and I must say that I did not 
quite relish the idea of having to deliver up my passport 
to the steamship agents — so that a permit from the Bra- 
zilian authorities for my leaving port could be obtained — 
before I could have the privilege of buying tickets. But 
no foreigner can leave any Brazilian port without first 
obtaining a pass from the chief of police — a frivolous and 
burdensome usage. It was one o'clock p. m. when we 
began to steam out of the harbor and turn southward. 
The weather was perfectly clear and delightful. Twenty 
months had passed since we had first entered the harbor 



138 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



of Rio, and it was with peculiar feelings that we now 
again, from a steamer's deck, surveyed the same extended 
and striking view of mountains and city that then opened 
before us. The sea continued smooth and the weather 
very pleasant all the afternoon and till bedtime. In a 
couple of hours after leaving Rio the mountain scenery 
along the coast becomes somewhat grand, and more beau- 
tiful than about Rio. The mountains, though generally 
covered with green forest, present a variety of forms, and 
it was very pleasant to sit under a canvas awning, or walk 
the deck, and watch the changing views. On retiring at 
night we had every expectation of arriving at Santos at 
the usual time, which would have been early the next 
morning. But a sharp rain- and thunder-storm rose in the 
night, during which the ship pitched and rolled a good 
deal, and the captain thought it prudent to stop, as there 
are several rather dangerous islands on the route between 
Rio and Santos. The result was that we did not reach 
Santos till four o'clock the next afternoon. Santos is 
situated out of sight from the sea, on a river not much 
wider than a canal, and it requires careful navigating for 
half an hour to get up to it ; and when one does get to it 
there is nothing attractive to be seen. The banks of the 
river are muddy and filthy, though the tide comes up 
sometimes. There are a few wharves, to which large 
steamships were moored. The city itself has an anti- 
quated appearance, and its narrow streets are compactly 
built up. The most striking object, on coming up to the 
city, is the custom-house, which, though small, is some- 
what showy. 

The hotel to which we went was old, situated in a 
block of buildings, and had only an up-stairs entrance, 
direct from the street. The rooms and furniture left 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATIOK 139 



considerable to be desired, but the table was good. The 
dining-room being small, I could not but notice that the 
practice of gentlemen — probably the most of them for- 
eigners — lighting their cigars and smoking for a while at 
the table seemed to have given the room a permanently 
stale smell of tobacco-smoke. There was a heavy shower 
during the night, but the next day was pleasant, and in 
the forenoon, in company with the wife of the American 
consul, a Brazilian lady, and her daughter, we made an 
excursion of a couple of miles or so in the horse-cars, to 
the sea-beach, which is very long, and affords an extensive 
driveway. A number of genteel cottages are occupied 
along the edge of the woods which border the beach. In 
going there from the city the way is over level land, and it 
appeared to me that there was enough well-situated ground 
for the site of a large city. I suppose it is all laid out 
into lots. Leaving Santos at half -past two p. m., on the 
railway, we arrived at Sao Paulo about six o'clock. For 
the first half-hour the road is over low, level land, covered 
with bushes. In the course of twenty minutes we cross a 
wide stream, near to which is the first station. The sta- 
tion-building is of brick, one story high, of light-yellow 
color, with a zinc roof, which projects six feet beyond the 
wall, and is supported by an iron frame. On one side of 
the road the forest is only a rifle-shot distant, while behind 
the station-building there is a slightly descending bush- 
covered surface for about a mile, and then hills, and 
mountains a thousand feet high, covered with forest. 
We were going through a valley, and getting nearer the 
mountains, and in ten minutes from this first station were 
on an ascending grade, in the vicinity of second-growth 
timber, rank weeds, and rich soil washed from hills near 
by. At ten minutes past three we arrived at the foot of 



140 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



the serra, a green, forest-covered mountain-side, a mile 
distant, on onr left, and another, half a mile distant, on 
our right. At the station are a telegraph-office, a bar, and 
also closets. Near by are two or three adobe houses of the 
poor people, with small grounds, fenced with close-stand- 
ing, slender stakes. The weather was warm, and the in- 
sects troublesome. At 3.35 we began the ascent of the 
serra, in a railway-car pulled up by an iron cable, and 
reached the top at 4.16. There were some fine views on 
the way up, both of mountains on our left and of sea and 
mountains behind. We also felt the air delightfully 
cooler as we got near the summit. Among the passengers 
were some German business men, going np from Santos 
to spend Sunday at Sao Paulo. At the summit station a 
number of working-men w T ere standing about, dressed in 
blue cotton clothes. 

From the point where we reached the high land all 
the way to the city of Sao Paulo, I w T atched the soil 
very closely and was surprised to see that so much of it 
was apparently poor. At 4.40 we came to a station where 
there were a saw-mill, a few houses, and some cleared 
ground, with old stumps, resembling an American pasture. 
We had been about twenty minutes coming to this point 
from the summit, much of the way being descending, the 
surface generally undulating, rather wet and bush-covered. 
We soon ascend another ridge covered with timber. At 
5 a. m. we reach a station, where there are wooden build- 
ings surrounded by partly cleared land ; thence we soon 
entered a narrow prairie. At 5.12, the station of Sao Ber- 
nardo, with good brick buildings, on nearly level campos / 
after that, smooth, undulating land and occasionally rocks. 
At 5.4, reached station of Braz near Sao Paulo, where the 
tickets were taken up. Very pretty surrounding country. 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 141 



It was just sundown ; the weather was pleasant, but I felt 
the need of putting on a light overcoat. In about eight 
minutes more we were at the last station. We had to wait 
twenty-five minutes for our trunk before we could start 
in a carriage for the hotel. The number of every piece 
of baggage as it is taken from the car is checked in a book 
by an employe. The convenient system of checks as in 
the United States is not used, but a paper receipt is given 
at the beginning of the journey, which must be given up 
before getting the baggage. 

My impressions of the country between Santos and 
Sao Paulo were penciled down May 4, as follows : " On 
the whole, the soil between Santos and Sao Paulo appears 
only third rate. The mountain-slope toward Santos and 
the sea is densely covered with a small growth of hard- 
wood forest. The trees seem of uniform height, and there 
is but little variety in the shade of dark-green of the foli- 
age. Looking off and down on the left side from the rail- 
way, the mountain - slope shows numerous but not deep 
ravines, all timber-covered. The view is not as imposing 
as we had been led to expect. We had one view of the 
sea and intervening valley. After getting to the summit 
there is but little descent to Sao Paulo; what there is 
seems to be offset by ascent. Leaving the summit station, 
we came, at about twenty-five miles an hour, through a 
moderately undulating country, with more or less timber 
and bushes. Say at five o'clock, we entered the campos, 
though still some timber at a distance. The campos 
begins as a narrow prairie, sloping a little to our right. 
There is some meadow-land with rather poor meadow- 
grass. Much of the land shows need of drainage. A 
few straight ditches have been dug. As we were forty 
minutes coming to Sao Paulo after striking the campos, 



142 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



I suppose we passed over fifteen miles of such surface. 
Scarcely any of the land is fenced. We saw two or three 
insignificant patches of corn already ripe, but in the whole 
distance there was not visible one well-cultivated field of 
any sort of crop. We did not see in all more than fifty 
head of cattle, very few dwellings, and those very small and 
generally of adobe. Of trees a few stunted palms were 
seen ; also green-leaved trees such as are commonly seen, 
a few quite tall and slender, some with green parasites ; 
but mostly the forest vegetation does not rise above the 
dignity of bushes ; and many of the trees, indeed, from 
their sickly appearance, might be fancied to be witnesses 
rising up to testify to the poorness of the soil. With 
drainage and good cultivation, no doubt, the soil would 
produce fair crops, but in its natural condition it presents 
a great contrast to that fertility which is so much vaunted 
in respect to Brazil." 

In a conversation which I had in Sao Paulo with 
Brigadier -General Magelhaes, a Brazilian who is well ac- 
quainted with the country, he told me that the soil between 
Santos and Sao Paulo " is not even third rate " ; that it 
contains no lime, and is fit only for the vine ; that there 
is very little good land near Sao Paulo, though there is a 
strip that is good, a league square, toward the west. He 
says that three fourths of the land in the province of Sao 
Paulo is good ; but that, in respect of Brazil as a whole, 
only a hundredth part of the land is fit for cultivation. 

The city of Sao Paulo is the most famous and impor- 
tant of all the interior towns of Brazil, its history being 
interwoven with turbulent political events of early times. 
It has a pleasant and elevated situation on an undulating 
bank of the Tiete River, where it is but little more than a 
brook ; and in any season of the year, with its green-topped 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 143 



trees, including a few palms amid light-colored walls, red- 
tiled roofs, and old church-towers, lias a striking appear- 
ance. Looking down from the city toward the river, the 
opposite and lower side is considerably built upon, but 
farther on is a wide expanse like a meadow, and then be- 
gins a rolling prairie which, after a stretch of eight or ten 
miles, is closed in by a range of forest-covered hills. It 
is in this lower and newer part of the city, and near the 
stream, that the Public Garden is situated. We spent some 
hours in it on a pleasant forenoon. It comprises about 
twelve acres, and there is room for its extension. It has 
fine shaded walks and neat ponds. One of its chief feat- 
ures is an avenue of figueira^ or wild fig-trees, which 
resemble the American live-oak. Among a variety of 
trees I noticed two small American or English white oaks. 
Really, a great deal of taste, enterprise, and skill is dis- 
played in this garden. There is a pretty high tower for 
an observatory, and the superintendent has his residence 
in the grounds. Nothing, in my opinion, reflects greater 
credit on a place than ample and well-arranged grounds 
in a convenient locality for a public garden or park. This 
one was not for driving, but simply for pedestrians. Op- 
posite this park are the old and extensive buildings of the 
Catholic Theological Seminary of the diocese. 

A very pleasant set of rooms commanding a fine view 
had been engaged for us at the principal hotel. This ho- 
tel, now owned and kept by a German, is, as a building, 
the largest and best hotel in all Brazil. Its rooms and 
furniture are the best of any in Brazil. It is a respect- 
able and orderly family hotel, and has, I believe, no bill- 
iard-table nor bar. The furniture is black walnut and 
American. The beds are comfortable and clean. The 
dining-room is spacious, but the table is not as good as 



144 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



a traveler has a right to expect. It is a little too scrimpy 
and plain. From the published list of guests, I infer that 
the French hotel on the other side of the same street is 
better patronized. However, I learn that the proprietor 
of the hotel I am speaking of is clearing eight per cent 
on the capital invested. The hotel is closed at ten o'clock 
every evening. The front door is then locked, the lights 
put out, and the waiter for each floor then goes to bed on 
a cot in the hall near the stairway. 

Sao Paulo has unquestionably the finest shop for a 
book and stationery store combined that there is in Brazil. 
It is kept by Frenchmen, and was visited by the Princess 
Imperial during her recent visit to that city. Her Impe- 
rial Highness condescended to accept as a present from 
the proprietors an elegantly bound and illustrated volume, 
(r also was presented with a volume — a catalogue in paper 
binding.) Among the prominent things in Sao Paulo is 
the National Law School, mentioned elsewhere, and kept 
in an antiquated convent pile. I should judge also that 
the mansion and offices of the president of the province 
were once an ecclesiastical edifice. How generous and 
public-spirited the Church must be, thus to give its ven- 
erable buildings to the Government ! Military sentinels 
were posted at the doors of the presidential offices. The 
bishop's residence is also well situated. The city is well 
supplied with street-railways, and those through the newer 
part of the city afford the visitor an opportunity of seeing 
a few expensive and pretty villas. 

With the Kev. Dr. John Cross, British chaplain, I 
went to see his church. It is constructed after the style 
of many American Episcopal churches, especially its inte- 
rior, the ceiling extending to the roof, and being finished 
in the dark and natural color of the wood. It was all 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 145 



neat and tasteful, and I was struck with tlie appearance 
of several kinds of Brazilian wood used for the interior 
finish. From there, Dr. Cross took me to see the ma- 
chine-shops of the Santos and Sao Paulo Railroad Com- 
pany, to which I had been invited by Mr. Barker, the 
manager. Connected with the offices are a library and 
reading-room, and a billiard-room adjoining, all for the 
use of the clerks and other employes of the company. 
I had never before seen anything of the sort, and was 
most favorably impressed by such thoughtful provision 
for the recreation, instruction, and amusement of corpora- 
tion employes. These rooms were on the lower floor, spa- 
cious, well lighted, and pleasant. In the reading-room 
was a large table where were the latest London newspa- 
pers and periodicals. The books composing the library, 
which probably numbered six hundred volumes, were 
mostly English; they were modern and well selected. 
Everything is free, except that one milreis a month is 
paid for the use of the books. 

From Mr. Barker I received some information in re- 
spect to wages and other matters. The railroad company 
gets its skilled mechanics from England by contract, pay- 
ing one hundred and eighty milreis (seventy-two dollars) 
a month, and no deduction during sickness or holidays ; 
after three years they get one hundred and ninety milreis 
a month. Native carpenters are paid two dollars a day, 
laborers eighty cents a day. Apprentices are paid twenty 
cents a day, with an annual increase in the same amount ; 
they serve from five to seven years. The rule for all is 
to work fifty-two hours in a week, and the work is dis- 
tributed so as to let them quit some hours before night 
on Saturdays, which is the common rule in England. 

The work of the machine-shops consists of foundry- 
13 



146 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



work and car-building and repairing. And here comes 
a singular fact for a country so endowed w^ith forests as 
Brazil is supposed to be : The timber used in the con- 
struction of cars is teak^ grown in and imported from 
India through England ! It resembles white oak, but is 
more durable, and handsomer, and is the sort of timber 
that decks and the tops of railings on the best steamships 
are made of. However, considerable Brazilian lumber is 
used in the shops, and Mr. Barker says it is found to be 
very good. 

The rate of transportation of coffee on this railway is 
very high, being something over two hundred reis, or eight 
cents, per ton per kilometre. The Santos and Sao Paulo 
Railroad Company had a guarantee from the Brazilian 
Government of the payment of seven per cent interest ; 
but the road must earn its working expenses to get the 
guarantee, and after its earnings exceed its expenses it 
must divide the profit with the Government, which still 
pays the guarantee, till all that has been paid in the way 
of guarantee is returned to the Government. Hence, the 
Government is not inclined to have the road reduce its 
rates of transportation. 

The Sunday we passed in Sao Paulo we attended re- 
ligious services in the Presbyterian church, under the 
charge of the American missionary, Rev. George Wi 
Chamberlain, walking there and back, the distance being 
about three quarters of a mile from our hotel. Mr. Cham- 
berlain, who has been a missionary in Brazil fifteen or 
twenty years, preached an extemporaneous sermon in the 
Portuguese language to a respectable and devout congre- 
gation of about two hundred, nearly all white Brazilians. 
The singing was by the congregation. The sacrament was 
administered in the same form that is customary in the 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 



147 



Congregational and Baptist churches — the deacons carry- 
ing the bread and wine to the communicants at their seats. 
A large majority of the congregation partook. I was sur- 
prised at the large size of the church-building. It will 
accommodate an audience of nearly a thousand. Its ceil- 
ing is very high, and it has a new, fresh, and pleasant ap- 
pearance. On the wall, behind the pulpit, the ten com- 
mandments are legibly inscribed in Portuguese ; also, 
there are two large and finely colored maps of the world. 

The next day w^e went to take a fuller look at the 
church, and to visit the day-school connected with the 
mission. On that occasion, Mr. Chamberlain told me that 
the ground, an acre and a half, bought in 1875, and the 
church and school-buildings, cost in all about eighty thou- 
sand milreis at that time, say thirty-four thousand dollars. 
The church alone cost thirty-five thousand milreis, or fif- 
teen thousand dollars. It is of wood, and the material was 
brought from the United States. Around the grounds are 
a number of tall eucalyptus-trees. The school corresponds 
to a good grammar-school. There were one hundred and 
twenty pupils, besides twenty in the Kindergarten. Boys 
and girls were in the same room. It appeared to be a 
very well managed school. It was once visited by the 
Emperor himself, and in a subsequent conversation with 
Mr. Chamberlain he complimented the school, but said he 
regretted its proselyting influence. Mr. Chamberlain dis- 
claimed its having such a purpose, and said that religious 
but not sectarian instruction was given in the school. 

I would here say that Mr. Chamberlain is known in 
Sao Paulo as the Padre Americano, or American priest. 
He is an energetic, active, and effective man, highly re- 
spected by all classes, and exerts a large influence. His 
residence, on ample grounds, selected at a favorable time, 



148 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



is about a mile from the older part of the city ; and there, 
one evening, we had the pleasure of meeting a party of 
about thirty ladies and gentlemen who are residents of 
Sao Paulo. There was some good music. In a conversa- 
tion with an intelligent and candid Brazilian who was pres- 
ent I remarked that I admired the courage and tenacity 
with which the Portuguese settlers in Brazil defended 
themselves against the French and Dutch ; that it ap- 
peared to me it surpassed what they had done in their 
native country. He replied : " The Tupay Indians did 
the fighting ; they are entitled to more credit than the 
Portuguese. Those Indians were a remarkable race." I 
inquired if those Indians had become extinct. He said, 
not entirely ; but they are mixed more or less with the 
Brazilians. 

We visited the Law School, which, however, was hav- 
ing a vacation. It is kept in an old J esuit church and 
monastery, the mud walls of which, white outside, are 
two and a half feet thick. Besides the room for the 
library, there are two fine large rooms or halls, with sev- 
eral full-length portraits of professors, and in an inner 
room was a good full-length portrait of the Emperor, 
Dom Pedro II. The library-room was undergoing re- 
pairs, and the books were mostly on the floor, which was 
carpeted. They had a French look outside, and the most 
were apparently a century or so old. The only English 
law-books were Burns's "Justice 55 and Chitty's " Com- 
mercial Law. 55 There were no American law-books that 
I could discover except three copies, in two volumes each, 
of Wheaton 5 s " International Law, 55 in French. There 
was a set of the "Edinburgh Review, 55 but apparently 
not the later volumes. 

The old church in the same pile of buildings, though 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 149 



of small dimensions, is an historical curiosity. Of its 
paintings the one that struck me most was a full, life-sized 
portrait on the ceiling in strong colors of some holy man 
on bended knees, with eyes upturned as if in the act of 
invoking a divine blessing. The verdant, rolling land- 
scape about him resembled the beautiful expanse which 
surrounds the venerable city of Sao Paulo, and the pleas- 
ing thought occurred to me, as I stood gazing at the pict- 
ure, that it probably represented the pioneer missionary 
who first planted the cross at that place. " Here," thought 
I, " honor has been done to home worth. This is a memo- 
rial of some spiritual hero who encountered perils in the 
wilderness in Brazil's early days ; and how much better it 
is to honor such men than to be always painting saints 
of the middle ages ! " I was not a little indignant, there- 
fore, when I learned that it was a picture of some Euro- 
pean who had never set foot in Brazil. However, it rep- 
resented no unworthy man — it was St. Francis. 

The Kev. Mr. Chamberlain related to me an anecdote 
of a party of begging Indians who came naked from their 
haunts in the wilderness to see the president of the prov- 
ince. The law-students gave them some clothes, which 
they put on in an amusing style. Mr. Chamberlain with 
some young people visited the party of Indians as they 
were eating. One of the Indians, for a bit of humor, yet 
with serious face, got up and approached him with a long 
knife, which he pretended to be sharpening on his naked 
arm. Some of the girls screamed, and one fainted. Mr. 
Chamberlain went toward the Indian, who did not change 
his countenance. Mr. Chamberlain asked, in Portuguese, 
if they would like to hear some singing. The Indian did 
not understand him, and called an interpreter. They 
wanted to hear the singing, and several hymns were sung 



150 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 



in Portuguese. The Indians all gathered round and liked 
it, and wanted more singing. These Indians used bows 
six feet long, and arrows with poisoned bone points. 

During our stay in Sao Paulo we had one or two pleas- 
ant horseback rides. One afternoon we started at 4.30 
o'clock with some friends, passing through ravines and 
over hills behind and overlooking the city, and getting as 
far as the Small-pox Hospital, then happily unoccupied, 
and from which place we started back at dusk. The same 
evening we went and took tea with the Kev. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tarboux, missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, who had recently come from South 
Carolina. 

I noticed that, while in Sao Paulo, the temperature was 
such that a thick blanket made a necessary bed-cover at 
night. 

On Thursday morning at nine oclock we took the cars 
to visit Mr. Vergueiro's great coffee-plantation at Ibicaba, 
the principal towns that we passed on the trip being Jun- 
diahy, Campinas, and Limera. The railway-car in which 
we went was comfortable and neat. There were eight 
rows or sets of seats with high backs covered with brown 
linen ; single seats on the left side of the passage and 
double ones on the right side. The wood-work was of 
teak ; the windows could be opened and shut easily ; the 
floor was covered with oil-cloth. The weather was misty 
and rather cold. First, we passed through bottom-laud 
with black soil, and in twenty minutes were passing along 
a narrow valley with hills forty feet high, bush-covered ; 
some rocks, occasional patches of corn amid bushes ; the 
hills afterward increasing in height and being frequently 
devoid of bushes. My pencil-notes made at the time read : 
" Cayaeira, 9.45 a. m. Some granite, very little surface 



i 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 151 



thus far visible this side of Sao Paulo that can be culti- 
vated with the plow. — Belim, 10.2. Much of the bushes 
we have passed look like willow. None of the trees are 
large, and but for the flowers on a few of them the vege- 
tation and surface would look almost exactly like much 
of the broken and third-rate land one sometimes traverses 
in the western part of the United States. A stop at this 
station of ten minutes ; and lamps in the cars are lit, evi- 
dently preparatory to entering a tunnel. — Vallinhas, 11.40. 
The undulations here become more moderate. The soil 
seems to improve. It is of red color ; scarcely any culti- 
vation, however, in sight. A few dwellings in the vicinity. 
A pack of mules, the first of the sort seen to-day, at the 
station, and a few ox-teams. A small flower-garden close 
to the station. Half-way between the last station and 
this, a large, high hill covered with white rocks visible off 
to the right. 

" Campinas, 12.10. A mile or two before reaching the 
station a fine view opens on the right of a gently undulat- 
ing country five to ten miles across, surrounding the town, 
amphitheatre-like, and apparently considerably cultivated. 
— Rebougas, 1 p. m. The country has been moderately roll- 
ing ; bushes and scattered timber ; a little corn amid bush- 
es. Soil for the most part ordinary. Am reminded, by the 
surface and vegetation, of land in the western part of the 
United States, except for occasional banana-trees. Here 
is a very small lumber-yard ; such things very rare. A 
small but thrifty-looking field of cane. — Santa Barbara, 
1.20. Some signs of a new settlement. A field of cane at 
a distance, the color of which is like a new field of oats. 
Flower-garden at the station ; a lumber-yard ; a small 
stream on the right ; meadow with horses and cattle feed- 
ing ; on gentle, grass-covered rise of ground are a few 



152 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AKD PBOSPECTS. 



dead trees, but not large. At 1.40 cross the Piracicaba 
River, of dark-drab color, and about eighty feet wide. 5 ' 
At the station of Cordeiro a fine carriage of Mr. Yer- 
gueiro's ? also a team to take our baggage, were waiting us. 
The weather was cool and pleasant, and the drive of about 
three miles to his residence was agreeable. From my rec- 
ollection, the situation of his buildings and plantation is a 
couple of hundred feet or so higher than the line of the 
railway, and with surrounding hills even higher ; and, as 
the plantation has a breadth of three or four miles, it was 
not long before we were traveling over it. There was soon 
a striking improvement in the appearance of the soil and 
vegetation, the latter increasing in size and the former 
being a purple clay, such as is considered the very best 
for the production of coffee. As we approached the 
premises I could see that the buildings were rather exten- 
sive, as indeed might be supposed on an estate employ- 
ing five or six hundred slaves. The house, which is very 
substantial, but not showy, is two stories high, the first 
one being for offices, and the second one for living-rooms, 
the entrance being through a large front yard containing 
flowers and trees. On the right side are additions for 
storage and domestics, making a line of a hundred yards 
or so of buildings. Adjoining on the left is a square, over- 
looked from the dwelling, surrounded by the cabins of the 
slaves, and in the rear are the mills and shops, brick-yard, 
etc., for the mechanical work of the plantation. There are 
also a hospital, chapel, with prominent tower and clock. 
Looking from the front windows of the house, there is a 
pleasant view of smooth pasture-ground sloping moder- 
ately, with here and there a tall, handsome tree — survivor 
of the virgin forest — and resembling a big, spreading- 
topped American elm ; then there is an ascent to high 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 153 



ground, on which, about a mile distant, are visible the 
houses of Mr. Yergueiro's German colony and coffee-fields. 
Looking to the right, the view is shut out by hills. 

Mr. Yergueiro and his refined and estimable wife re- 
ceived us in a cordial manner and made us feel immedi- 
ately at home. The reception-room was large, with clean- 
scrubbed floor and some rugs, a large, round table, sofa, 
and easy-chairs. On a small table w^as a waiter with some 
liquors, in case a guest might wish such refreshment. On 
the front walls were engraved portraits of Mr. Yergueiro's 
father and mother ; the former, though a native of Portu- 
gal, having been a senator and distinguished Brazilian 
patriot, and for a short time during the era of independ- 
ence one of the regents of the empire ; and on account of 
this last circumstance Mr. Yergueiro's neighbors are in 
the habit of giving him the title of " duke." Delicious 
black coffee in small cups was served shortly after our 
arrival, according to the Brazilian custom ; it was also 
passed round in the same way shortly after dinner, and 
again later in the evening. It was also brought into our 
sleeping-rooms at the time of getting up in the morning. 
After partaking of coffee, and some time spent in conver- 
sation, Mr. Yergueiro accompanied us to see some of the 
premises. We first visited the mill, steam-engine, water- 
tanks, and machinery for cleaning the coffee ; also the 
machinery for filling sacks. There was a large stock of 
superior coffee on hand, and the machinery and works 
for cleaning and preparing it were of a character calcu- 
lated to excite wonder and admiration. The same engine 
which runs the coffee-machinery also furnishes power for 
a saw- and planing-mill and a grist-mill. Mr. Yergueiro 
had the machinery put in motion, and had planed some 
strong reddish-colored timber called tiuva. A number of 



154: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



his slaves are skilled mechanics, whom he has instructed. 
There was quite a lot of lumber on the ground ; a brick- 
yard near by, with a big stock of bricks ; and, as Mr. Yer- 
gueiro is his own manager, I thought he must possess a 
great deal of business talent. He served for some years, 
in early life, as an officer in the German army, and un- 
doubtedly there gained many valuable habits of system 
and discipline. We afterward visited the vegetable gar- 
den, which occupied fully two acres, was very well culti- 
vated, and had a number of orange and peach trees, also a 
few magnificent specimens of forest-trees, among them the 
cajaeirOj with very large spreading top, very small leaves, 
and which bears an aromatic fruit of which a drink like 
lemonade is made ; and the painera, or cotton-tree, seven 
feet in diameter at the base, very tall, with large top, long 
green leaf something like the willow, and which bears a 
pink flower, but is not valuable for timber. We next went 
to see the hospital and medical dispensary, and these I 
thought Mr. Yergueiro took more pride in showing than 
anything else. The hospital apartments seemed well 
adapted for their purpose, and happily were unoccupied ; 
the room for medical stores appeared to be well furnished. 
When we got back to the house, it was about time for 
dinner, which was served at five o'clock. In a case like 
this, off in the interior of Brazil, it may be expected that 
I would say a word or two about the table. It was a 
family dinner, without ceremony, and there were in all 
nine at the table — Mr. and Mrs. Yergueiro, an adopted 
daughter and her two children, and an Italian Catholic 
priest (who had come from a neighboring town to hold 
mass for the slaves), besides ourselves. The table was 
long, and had room for several more guests, for Mr. Yer- 
gueiro is in the habit of entertaining visitors. This gen- 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 155 



tleman sat at the head and did the carving. Among the 
dishes was a good piece of roast beef and an uncommonly 
nice boiled leg of mutton. Among the vegetables were 
rice, sweet potatoes, and spinach, mashed in the Euro- 
pean style, and which I noticed was eaten mixed w r ith dry 
mandioca-meal as a favorite dish. There were red and 
sherry wines. The sweet dishes and dessert showed skill- 
ful cooking. There were two or three well-trained black 
waiters dressed in full fashion, with black, swallow-tailed 
coats and white cravats. At dessert Mr. Vergueiro had 
his grandchildren sit by him, and I think his two big 
greyhounds, which seem to accompany his every step, 
also came in for a bite. About eight or nine o'clock in 
the evening we went to the dining-room again for tea and 
supper. Stairs led down, without a door, from the parlor 
to an entry-way in the basement ; and we had not sat very 
long after dinner before we were surprised by the sound 
of the music of a full brass band in that direction. Like 
many planters, Mr. Vergueiro has organized among his 
slaves such a band of music, which, of course, contributes 
much to the general diversion and spirit. The band, 
however, was to do special services that evening ; for 
the slaves were to celebrate a religious festival by a torch- 
light procession. During the evening we witnessed the 
procession from the open windows of the house. There 
were torches in abundance, and banners, and crucifixes, 
sky-rockets, Roman candles, cannon-firing, and music by 
the band ; and, amid all, a mournful murmur of chants 
and prayers. Women carried their babies in their arms, 
and children were tagging by their side. A sort of weird 
spectacle these hundreds of slaves made as seen in occa- 
sional flashes of artificial light. There was no mirth. I 
could not perceive a single indication of cheerfulness. 



156 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Everything seemed of an opposite character. The air 
was cold, almost frosty, and when at length the procession 
returned and marched into the yard of the slave-quarters, 
little fires were kindled in different spots for warmth. 
As I was looking out of a window on the scene and heard 
the gate shut, and a heavy bolt turned after the procession 
had all got in, the thought struck me, rather sadly, that 
these people were like prisoners. 

The next day, though Friday, was kept as Sunday. 
By mutual understanding the large slaveholding plant- 
ers observe a day for Sunday, each different from the 
others, so that the slaves of different plantations shall not 
have an opportunity of mingling together in a sort of 
mass-meeting. Friday was, therefore, kept as Sunday at 
Ibicaba. As soon as we were dressed in the morning we 
were informed that mass was about to be celebrated in the 
chapel, and thither we went. A fair congregation was 
present, consisting mostly of slave-women, who were on 
their knees on the tiled floor. The priest celebrated mass 
in quick time, occupying perhaps twenty minutes in all, 
and was assisted by rather a handsome young mulatto 
belonging to the plantation. The slave-women kept up 
a plaintive chanting or praying a part of the time, and 
there seemed to be a sad look on every face. After this 
service Mr. Yergueiro took us to see his artificial lake or 
mill and fish pond, some hundred yards in the rear of the 
buildings, going through the garden, and where was a con- 
venient bath-house ; and when we got back it was about 
breakfast-time. Speaking of the big greyhounds which 
always kept close to Mr. Vergueiro, and which were the 
largest and most powerful I ever saw, the governess told 
us that once on taking a walk she had found these dogs 
the most perfect of protectors. 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION". 



157 



Alter breakfast the priest had his mule saddled and 
rode away in citizen's clothes, which I noticed he wore ex- 
cept when officiating in the chapel. In the course of the 
forenoon my family and I had Mrs. Vergueiro's company 
in a visit to the dwellings of the German colony, about a 
mile distant. We went into several of the cottages, which 
were substantial and comfortable, saving that the floors 
were bare earth. Each family had its patch of garden, 
out -building for cattle, pigs, and fowls, and appeared 
contented. In the house of the director, who also is a 
German, was an apartment furnished for a school. The 
colonists are simply tenants, receiving pay in money for 
the coffee they produce, cultivating it according to instruc- 
tions, and receive rent of house and land enough for their 
own produce free. Later in the day we went out to look 
at the coffee-trees laden with ripe and green berries. They 
were of most thrifty appearance, and the soil, a purple- 
red clay with a very little sand, was free from weeds and 
grass. We were told that this very soil bore cane forty 
years ago, and had been continuously in crop ever since 
without manuring. It has a depth of many feet. 

The Rev. Mr. Chamberlain arrived from Sao Paulo 
before dinner, and was received by Mr. Vergueiro as an 
old friend. He suggested giving a talk to the black peo- 
ple in the evening, as he had done on some former occa- 
sion, but Mr. Vergueiro did not appear to favor the idea 
— possibly because it might seem a little inconsistent to 
have Catholic service in the morning and Protestant serv- 
ice in the evening ; possibly, it might have been in defer- 
ence to the feelings of his wife, who is undoubtedly a 
devout Catholic. Mr. Vergueiro and Mr. Chamberlain 
passed the evening in an animated and friendly conversa- 
tion on religious and other questions, and the rest of us 
14 



158 BKAZIL- ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 

■ 

around the center-table chatted and looked at engrav- 
ings. 

The next morning I took a look at some of the dairy- 
stock. The cows were the native Brazilian breed called 
caracu, or thick-necked. They have very large horns, and 
give twelve quarts of milk a day. The stock, however, 
is used more for beef than the dairy. After breakfast the 
time came for us to say good-by. Our visit had been 
pleasant and interesting, and we took leave of our friends 
with expressions of sincere thanks for their amiable hos- 
pitality. A team of Mr. Vergueiro's took us to Rio Claro, 
a town of about six thousand inhabitants. The planters 
in the adjacent country are generally in unembarrassed 
circumstances. On our way we noticed in a piece of woods 
near the road a temporary rustic altar where the Ibicaba 
slaves had held religious services of their own the previ- 
ous day. 

Afterward, a good deal of the land we passed over was 
mere pasture embossed with ant-hills, and as we came near 
the town of Rio Claro the soil became quite sandy. At 
the suggestion of Mr. Chamberlain, and in his company, 
we, at Rio Claro, called upon and accepted an invitation 
to lunch with the family of an American missionary, Mr. 
de Gamma, consisting besides himself of a wife and grown 
daughters. Mr. de Gamma, though a native of Portugal 
or the Azores, has lived many years in the State of Illi- 
nois, and seems much attached to the United States. He 
owns about a dozen acres of land, on which his house 
stands, well situated at the edge of the town, and on which 
he is having success in raising grapes, for which the soil 
and climate of the locality seem well adapted, the tem- 
perature being warmer than at Sao Paulo. Around the 
house were plants and flowers. He has a successful school, 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 159 



also a home for poor boys, and appeared to me to be ac- 
complishing useful work. 

In several places in the streets of this town, some piles 
of logs and tar-barrels had been got in readiness for bon- 
fires the ensuing night, in celebration of the festival* of 
Santa Cruz. 

Leaving Rio Claro by railway, we got back to the sta- 
tion of Santa Barbara before sundown. This is the station 
where one stops who wishes to visit the American col- 
ony — the settlement of farmers who emigrated to Brazil 
from the Southern States of the United States soon after 
the civil war. They live on a tract of moderate but not 
first-rate fertility, surrounding the village of Santa Bar- 
bara, about ten miles south from the station. We hoped, 
after visiting that settlement, to be able to go on horse- 
back across the country to Piracicaba. With the assist- 
ance of Mr. Chamberlain, I hired of a neighboring German 
planter a buckboard wagon — a long, rather low vehicle, 
with light board bottom, uninclosed at the sides and ends, 
and two seats without springs, with two mules driven by' 
an African driver. It was the best conveyance to be had ; 
and in it, or on it, we started for the residence of Mrs. 
Ellis, some four or five miles distant. There were sev- 
eral Americans about the railway-station, the most of them 
being young men who appeared to have come for mail- 
matter ; and as they, returning home, galloped or trotted 
by us on good animals, soon after we had started, we could 
almost fancy we were somewhere in the United States. 
There was quite a hill to go up soon after we had got 
under way. The whole of the country seemed poor and 
desolate. "We did not pass a dwelling, nor any cultivated 
land, the entire way to Mrs. Ellis's. The surface is undu- 
lating, studded with clumps of bushes, here and there some 



160 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



trees, and occasionally a partly burned trunk of a fallen 
tree ; the soil, reddish-colored with a large proportion of 
sand ; the road natural, much worn, and with numerous 
tracks. In places the ruts were so worn down that the 
bottom of our buckboard would scrape the middle of the 
road. 

The house of Mrs. Ellis and her sister, Miss Strong, 
is situated about half a mile off the main road, and we 
arrived there at dusk, meeting a kind welcome. The 
next day we drove in the buckboard (I have read in a 
Brazilian newspaper that the Princess Imperial of Brazil, 
in her recent tour in the southern provinces, rode in such 
a conveyance) eight miles to the " Campos " church, 
though the weather was very hot, and attended services 
and preaching by Mr. Chamberlain. The meeting-house 
is a plain yet comfortable wooden building, w T here the 
American settlers assist in maintaining a union church, 
services being held alternate Sundays by Baptist, Meth- 
odist, and Presbyterian clergymen. There was a good 
attendance of respectable and intelligent-appearing Amer- 
icans, whose manners were uniformly friendly. Several 
invited us to go home with them to dinner ; but as we 
could only accept one invitation, we went to the family 
where Mrs. Ellis was going to dine, which proved to be 
that of an American, who has a thousand acres, a pleasant 
home, and apparently a good farm. I noticed in his 
house a big, old-fashioned open fireplace. The frame of 
a new house was up. There was a good brook running 
through his farm, and he had ten or a dozen fat hogs, 
which had the benefit of the stream. The dinner was 
such as one could expect at the house of an American 
country gentleman. There was no attempt at style, but 
the fare was generous, and there was an air of quiet and 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 161 



dignity. A full decanter of good sherry wine was on the 
table. All the farin-houses that we saw during the day 
were very plain outwardly and in their surroundings. 

It was again dusk when we got back to Mrs. Ellis's ; 
and the temperature was so cool after dark that a fire 
kindled in the open fireplace was very agreeable. The 
month of May, it must be remembered, is the beginning 
of Brazilian winter, and the elevation where we were is 
two thousand feet above the sea. 

Mrs. Ellis is a widow, with children grown up and 
married, and she and her maiden sister, Miss Strong, who 
live together, are large, fleshy, and whole-souled women 
from Georgia ; but a part of their life since they came to 
Brazil has been tinged with sadness. Miss Strong first 
came with her father fifteen or twenty years ago ; they 
traveled a good deal through Brazil, searching for an 
eligible site for a farm, during which time they were most 
kindly and hospitably received by Brazilians. Finally, Mr. 
Strong selected this place, of two or three hundred acres, 
principally because he could get a clear title, for about 
everywhere else he had found some difficulty or question 
in regard to title. He was an enterprising, methodical, 
and thoughtful man, and devoted a great deal of labor to 
clearing off the woods from a part of the farm and bring- 
ing it into a state of cultivation. He planted a peach- 
orchard on a rise of ground in front of the dwelling, and, 
when all the other improvements were done, he built a 
house in the old Georgia style, with a wide veranda in 
front, which is entirely covered by the projecting roof. 
He lived to see his peach-trees blossom and bear fruit, 
but finally, owing to the moisture of the ground or some 
other cause, they began to die. And it was not long after 
he had got his house finished till he himself fell a victim 



162 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



to fatal illness, leaving his affectionate daughters most 
deeply to deplore liis loss. Partly for recreation and 
partly to do good, Mrs. Ellis has for several years taught 
a small school in a little building set apart for the pur- 
pose, and situated on the opposite side of the road from 
the house. Several of the pupils live in the family, as it 
would be too far for them to go daily to their homes. 
That Sunday evening two pretty little American girls 
under twelve years of age had been brought and left at 
the house by their father, who lived seven or eight miles 
distant, in order that they could attend the school. He 
said they had never stayed away from home before, and it 
was a hard trial for him to be separated from them ; but 
there was no nearer school to which they could go. There 
was an organ in the same room as the fireplace, and dur- 
ing the evening some familiar tunes were sung in which 
the children joined. With reference to the American 
colony, I might here say that while a majority are making 
a good living, there is not a likelihood that it will grow 
by American immigration. 

Learning that a bridge was down on the road to Pira- 
cicaba, it seemed to be doubtful whether the trip could be 
safely made on horseback ; so the next morning we again 
took the railway at Santa Barbara station for Campinas. 
From here I had thought of continuing the journey on 
another line to Casa Branca, nearly a day's journey, but, 
owing to the excessive dust, the ladies outvoted me, and 
we went straight to the principal hotel of Campinas. We 
were some minutes driving there. The hotel was only 
one story high, the entrance looked dirty, and the apart- 
ments assigned for us showed a decided lack of soap and 
water, and the need of some fresh coats of paint. The 
beds were devoid of linen, which, it seems, is not put on 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 



163 



at some hotels till the rooms are let. Everything looked 
disagreeable. The rooms were almost overlooked from 
the street. There were no window-shades; but there 
were wooden shutters, which, when closed, left the room 
nearly dark. I apprehended that breakfast would be in 
keeping with the rooms. But on going into the eating- 
room everything seemed changed. We got a good beef- 
steak, with fried potatoes, good rolls, and tea, all served in 
a satisfactory manner. We had scarcely finished break- 
fast, when the Rev. Mr. Lane, chief of the American Pres- 
byterian mission and college at Campinas, accompanied by 
the Eev. Mr. Chamberlain, came in a carriage to take us to 
the college, and be its guests during our stay in the city. 
We could not very well decline so kind an invitation, 
and therefore went. The college is a two-story red-brick 
building, with porch and steps at the front entrance, situ- 
ated on gently rising ground at the outskirts of the town, 
and has about forty acres of good land belonging to and 
surrounding it. It is a good boarding-school for boys who 
wish to pay, and a manual-labor school for some who do 
not pay. A matron and some of the teachers live in the 
building, and there are guest-rooms in the lower story. 
The grounds are amply supplied with water, even to the 
extent of a swimming-tank. A young ladies' school is 

i kept at the residence of Mr. Lane, some hundred yards 
distant, under the direction of Mrs. Lane, a Virginia lady, 
with whom we had the pleasure, in the evening, of taking 
tea. Mr. Lane is a native of the British Islands, and a 
man of superior organizing talent, as well as an able 
preacher. The college grounds, which he selected, will, in 

i time, as the city grows, prove a very valuable endowment. 
In another part of the town he has presented to the 
municipality a piece of ground for a park. In the course 



164 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



of the day, in company with. Mr. Chamberlain, we visited 
the new Catholic church edifice in Campinas, which was 
in course of erection many years, and was finally dedi- 
cated, with great ceremonies, a year or two ago. It is a 
very large structure ; handsome outside, and very hand- 
some inside, the finish being in Brazil-wood, in natural 
dark-red color, in happy contrast to the white and gilded 
style that is so common. We went to the top of the 
tower, which is very high, and affords a splendid view of 
the surrounding country. The architect occupied offices 
on the ground-floor. 

The same afternoon, in company with Messrs. Lane 
and Chamberlain, we visited a neighboring coffee-planta- 
tion, the proprietor of which being absent, we were kindly 
shown through the house and grounds by his wife, ac- 
companied by their two grown daughters. The lady was 
a stout, bright, yet amiable person, evidently competent 
to rule a large household. The department of the in-door 
female slaves presented novel scenes. Here was a nursery 
of negro babies, tended by their mothers : some were in 
cradles ; and there was one, sick with the measles, that was 
being rocked by a little negro boy. The lady said she 
had to watch the mothers, to see that they sufficiently fed 
their children. In the kitchen, among other cooking, 
some not very ripe pumpkins were being cut and put into 
a large boiler, to be cooked for food for the work-people. 
It reminded me of what I had seen done for cattle. In a 
corner of the large dining-room was a loom for hand- 
weaving ; and in the same room, slave-women were clean- 
ing coffee by hand, shaking it up in large, shallow sieve- 
baskets, occasionally giving it a dexterous toss in the air, 
and letting it fall again into the basket, without wasting a 
kernel. I was particularly struck by the good and tidy 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 165 



woolen skirts of the slave-women's dresses. "We took a 
look at a coffee-orchard near the house, also went through 
grounds devoted to fruit, and while in the latter, coffee, 
in small cups, was brought out to us. There was a piano 
in the parlor, on which the daughters are accustomed to 
play. The house was of good size, and substantially built 
in old-fashioned style, with thick walls, whitewashed out- 
side. There were several steps descending very gradu- 
ally from the front door, and below them a smooth, hard 
piece of ground, clean swept, for drying coffee. The pre- 
vailing air about the premises was business, as an example 
of which, the fowl-yard on one side of the house came 
up to the veranda. Messrs. Lane and Chamberlain were 
acquainted with the family, and I presume it was owing 
to this acquaintance that the latter, while we were all in 
the parlor together, got into a discussion with the lady of 
the house, who was a Catholic, on some doctrinal ques- 
tion. They conducted the discussion in an animated but 
very good-natured manner, and I thought the lady, who 
sat a part of the time in a hammock, maintained her side 
with ability. Mr. Chamberlain, who is a good singer, 
wound up by singing some verses of a Portuguese hymn. 

The next morning we were up and had our coffee at 
the college before daylight, took the train for Jundiahy, 
where we arrived in two hours, and were entertained at 
breakfast by Mr. and Mrs. Hammond at their pleasant 
home. About 11 a. m. we started by railway for Piraci- 
caba, on the Itu line, which at first descends along a branch 
of the Tiete Piver. In about half an hour we passed the 
Italian colony of Montesserate, whose houses are close to- 
gether fronting the road. The president of the railway 

company, Baron , who with his family was going 

I to his plantation at Itu, noticing that I was observing the 



166 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



soil, which was of a dark color, informed me that the soil 
in that neighborhood was called massape, and that it was 
good for growing coffee ? cotton, and cane, "With this 
family we interchanged some sociability. By the baron's 
direction, his handsome little boy came with captivating 
modesty and gave the youngest of our party some fruit. 
During this journey of over four hours by rail we trav- 
ersed a country that has long been settled and which 
contains several old towns and villages— a country with 
alternately good and poor soil, with here and there bright 
fields of cane and coffee and of ripe com, and which also 
afforded in passing a few really splendid views of dis- 
tant highlands, of vast prairies and majestic forests. We 
reached Piracicaba at 3.45. Before getting to the station 
the railway winds along the upper edge of a sort of amphi- 
theatre, affording a view of the city lying farther down 
toward the river. We had accepted an invitation to stop 
while in this city at the Collegio Piracicabano, an Ameri- 
can boarding and day school founded by the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and under the charge of Miss 
Martha Watts, of Kentucky. Before the cars stopped we 
were able to distinguish this building, a two-story red- 
brick edifice, by seeing the American and Brazilian flags 
displayed from its cupola. It was a sunshiny, pleasant 
afternoon. Rev. Mr. Koger was at the station with a car- 
riage to meet us, and we were soon on our way to the col- 
lege. On arriving there, Miss Watts had her school of 
young misses, mostly Brazilians, paraded in two lines in 
the front yard and on the steps, and as we passed up be- 
tween them they shook hands with each of us and pre- 
sented flowers. When we had got into the entry, Miss 
Watts introduced Miss Maria Escoba, a handsome Brazil- 
ian miss of about eighteen years, who, she said, had a few 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 



words to say to us. The young lady then read a short 
address of welcome in Portuguese, and in reply I said we 
appreciated the honor they were doing us, and that we 
would accept it as a compliment to the United States. 
After this the scholars gave nine hurrahs. We could not 
have had a more cordial reception. Our apartments in 
the building were home-like and comfortable, and we were 
well satisfied with our treatment. The rooms of the 
building are spacious, and seem well designed for such 
an institution. The situation is in a good part of the 
town, and the grounds, containing a vegetable-garden, 
lawn, orange and other trees, are ample. After dinner 
we went to the top of the building, and from the cupola 
had a line view of the city and surrounding country. 

That evening a Brazilian brass band, several of whose 
members were mulattoes, came and gave a serenade, and 
Miss Watts invited them into the college and gave them 
a collation. 

Wednesday, May 14th, weather being pleasant, I took 
a walk in the morning through the town. The main 
street is of good width, with fairly wide and stone-paved 
sidewalks. Some of the shops were of good size and well 
stocked. The most disagreeable thing that impressed me 
was the exposed position of the city prison. It is in a 
basement-room, and through the heavily grated windows 
the prisoners could be seen from the street, there being 
no inclosure around the building. 

I might here say that the name of the city of Piraci- 
caba is composed of two Guarany-Indian words, pira, 
fish, and cycaba, end, meaning the place where the fish 
stop in their passage up the river on account of the falls. 
The locality has long been celebrated for good fish at cer- 
tain seasons of the year. Piracicaba was settled a hun- 



168 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



dred years ago, and has risen by regular promotion, hav- 
ing been created a separate parish in 1810, a town in 
1821, and a city in 1856. Its fine bridge of about six 
hundred feet in length, just above the falls, was made by 
the province at the moderate expense of forty thousand 
dollars. The streets of the city are all at right angles 
and wide, and, owing to its splendid water-power, its ex- 
cellent situation on high, rolling land, and very extensive 
surroundings of fertile country, it seems destined to have 
considerable growth. It was visited by the Princess Im- 
perial and her husband in November, 1884. 

"We breakfasted at 8.30. In the forenoon we listened 
to some of the recitations in the school. I was pleased 
with Miss Watts's system. 

About 1 p. m. we rode out on horseback, three miles 
or so, taking the road through some woods toward Santa 
Barbara. In the afternoon we visited the cotton-mill of 
Mr. Luiz Quiroz, a Portuguese, w^ho showed us through it. 
We there saw a new embroidery-machine doing the work 
which a hundred operatives would do by hand. The pro- 
prietor has a handsome new villa not far from the river, 
and from which there is a splendid view of the falls and 
rapids. We then drove over the new bridge and down a 
piece on the opposite bank ; then got out and walked down 
close to the river, on a terrace from which the view of 
the falls is fine. The falls are about forty feet high, but 
not exactly abrupt. It w T as nearly dusk when we got 
back to the carriage. I should say the Piracicaba River 
is larger there than the Merrimac at Lowell. The best 
fish of the river, and a kind which is abundant, is the 
dourado. As many as five hundred and seventy-eight 
of these fish, some weighing five pounds each, were caught 
in a net there one afternoon in the month of February. 



VISIT TO A COFFEE-PLANTATION. 169 



Mr. Koger told me that they are as good as our American 
shad. 

On Thursday afternoon, in company with Miss "Watts, 
her assistants, and several of her pupils, and Mr. Koger, 
we took an excursion down the river in large and long 
canoes dug out from trees. I felt a little timid; but 
the boatmen were experienced river-men, and we made a 
pleasant trip down to and even into some rapids, return- 
ing safely by dusk. The river was broad, and its banks 
moderately high and covered with bushes and trees, on 
which were many hanging vines and some parasites with 
bright flowers. The chief boatman told us the names of 
several of the trees, explaining which were good for tim- 
ber and w r hich for fuel only. 

That evening we attended public worship and preach- 
ing in Portuguese by Mr. Koger. (The Rev. James W. 
Koger, superintendent of the mission in Brazil of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, an excellent and 
amiable man, preached in Eio de Janeiro, January 17, 
1886, returning the 19th to Sao Paulo, where, after nine 
days' illness of yellow fever, he died, 'deeply regretted, 
leaving a widow and four children.) The next morning 
we took leave of Miss "Watts and all at the college, feeling 
much gratified with all we had seen at the institution, and 
with the kind entertainment we had received. We took 
the train for Sao Paulo at 8.15, where we arrived in the 
afternoon. On Sunday we heard Mr. Tarboux preach an 
earnest sermon in Portuguese, reading it from manuscript, 
and it seemed to me he had made great progress, consid- 
ering that it was only about a year since he came to Bra- 
zil from the United States. A young American acted as 
organist. The audience comprised about twenty persons. 

Monday, May 19th, we arose at 4.15, took coffee be- 
15 



170 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



fore 5, left the hotel in a carriage at 5.30, and started on 
the train for Rio at 6. The trip occupied the day — say 
twelve hours, the train going at moderate speed, and stop- 
ping at stations about every ten miles. The fare for three 
of us was ninety milreis, and ten milreis more for a trunk, 
making in all about forty dollars. Considerable of the 
way was down the valley of the Parahyba, which varies 
from two to twelve miles or more in width, is of medium 
fertility, has long been settled, contains many plantations 
and populous villages, and is inclosed on each side by for- 
est-covered mountains on whose sides, however, are occa- 
sionally to be seen coffee-plantations. The river, which 
is dark-colored, is generally broad and shallow, but here 
and there is shut in narrow banks with rapids. The 
scenery is frequently picturesque. We reached Eio at 
7.10 p. m. in the midst of a very heavy fall of rain, and 
before eight o'clock were safely at our residence. 



CHAPTEK XI. 



PUBLIC INSTETTCTTCXN". 



While the Pedagogical Exhibition held at Kio in 
1883 was a success, the friends of education very much 
regretted that a congress of teachers from all parts of the 
country could not have been held at the same time. The 
plan which the Government proposed for the congress 
was that, in each province, the Inspector-General of In- 
struction should assemble all the male teachers of that 
province, who should select three of their number to 
attend the congress, the inspector himself to select three 
female teachers to attend, making six teachers from each 
province, or, for the twenty provinces and the capital, 
one hundred and twenty-six members. The necessary 
expenses were to have been paid by the central Govern- 
ment, and the estimate to cover the expense of the con- 
gress was thirty contos, or twelve thousand dollars. 
The national legislature, however, declined to vote the 
money, and so the congress was not held. Under these 
circumstances the Government appointed a commission, 
or congress, of distinguished educators, who served gra- 
tuitously and furnished some able papers on educational 
subjects. It is now the wish of the Government soon to 
hold an international congress of teachers of American 
countries. 



172 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



The Pedagogical Exhibition was under the presidency 
of his Koyal Highness Count d'Eu, husband of the Prin- 
cess Imperial, and was opened in presence of the Empe- 
ror and Empress, and a numerous public, in the city of 
Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 29th. It remained open 
for the free admission of visitors for several weeks, and 
was visited by many thousand people, and, in this way, was 
itself an educator of taste and ideas of very great value. 
Several foreign countries were represented in the exhibi- 
tion ; but the United States, for some reason, was very 
scantily represented. Belgium took the lead in the ex- 
hibit of technical work of pupils and in school-room appa- 
ratus and fixtures. Her display was admirable, and calcu- 
lated to inspire admiration for the country making it, and 
thus indirectly to benefit her commercial interests. Ger- 
many came next ; and the exhibit by France was respect- 
able. 

The exhibition finally developed into a permanent 
Educational Exposition of school-furniture, fixtures, maps, 
text-books, etc., all being well arranged in spacious rooms 
in the second story of the National Printing-Office build- 
ing, and where it now forms one of the most creditable 
displays that can be found in Brazil. 

The literature of the exhibition was also creditable. 
Conselheiro Leoncio de Carvalho, first secretary of the 
commission appointed to organize a teachers' congress in 
connection with this Pedagogical Exhibition, contributed 
an interesting and able introduction to the report on the 
exhibition, in which he first expresses regret because the 
expected congress of teachers did not take place owing to 
the failure of the legislature to provide means, pointing 
out, at the same time, the many foreign countries, begin- 
ning with Germany in 1848, in which teachers' congresses 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



173 



have been successfully held. Thanks, however, to gener- 
ous private contributions of money, and to the active co- 
operation of the Government, an exhibition was held, and 
many valuable written opinions or essays contributed to 
educational literature. These opinions are printed in a 
large quarto volume issued at the same time with the in- 
troduction and reports of awards by committees. 

This introduction by Conselheiro Carvalho contains 
much information on the subject of public instruction in 
Brazil. The condition of primary instruction, he says, is 
deplorable. Taking the free population at upward of 
seven millions, there is but one school in proportion to 
every 1,356 inhabitants, which is far from satisfying the 
needs of a population scattered over a vast territory, and 
separated by great distances. Many of the schools, too, 
are not provided with teachers ; almost all are kept in 
hired houses, and badly situated in sanitary regards. 
Pupils of different sexes can not attend the same school. 
In the whole country there are 1,315 schools for girls. 
The school population, composed of boys and girls from 
six to fifteen years of age, amounts to 1,902,454, of whom 
only 321,449 are registered as pupils, leaving 1,581,005 
who do not go to any school. l$[o one can teach a private 
school without being subjected to the tests applied to 
teachers of public schools. Many of the latter, Mr. Car- 
valho says, are deficient in the necessary qualifications. 
The pay is frequently inadequate; nor do women have 
the proper facilities for teaching. Religious intolerance 
closes the school to all but Catholics. The school sessions 
are divided by long intervals, obliging the father to send 
his boy to school twice a day, which is inconvenient for 
all and impossible for many. 

Mr. Carvalho has not sought in this introduction to 



I 



174 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPECTS. 



give a rose-colored sketch of popular education that would 
gratify the vanity especially of the statesmen of the coun- 
try ; but he has had the courage to speak the truth like a 
manly patriot, knowing that such a course would, in the 
end, prove the most serviceable to the public welfare. 
He tells us that popular education is in a deplorable con- 
dition, which, no doubt, is the honest truth as regrads 
manv of its features. 

Brazil has for many years maintained a system of pub- 
lic instruction, and some of her enlightened statesmen are 
now devoting special attention to its improvement. Nat- 
urally, the great extent of the country and sparseness of 
its population have been serious drawbacks to common 
schools in the rural districts, and it will be found that, in 
the endeavor to overcome these, practices have grown, 
such as keeping schools in private houses, which would 
seem novel in the United States, where a separate build- 
ing for a public school is the universal custom. More 
than ordinary interest was manifested in educational mat- 
ters by Minister J oao Alfredo when at the head of the 
department of the empire about ten years ago. Among 
other things he caused the erection of the fine school- 
building in the Largo Machado, where the Emperor fre- 
quently, on Sundays, attends lectures. He also changed 
the rules of the Polytechnic School so that students could 
undergo examination without attendance on the lectures. 
Educational reform began under him, and was effectively 
continued by his successor, Conselheiro Leoncio de Car- 
valho, who was appointed Minister of the Empire in the 
early part of 1878, in the Sinimbu Cabinet, and who in the 
course of the year and a half that he was in office caused 
the enactment of the law of April 19, 1879, reforming 
primary and secondary instruction in the municipality of 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



175 



the capital, and superior instruction — schools of law, medi- 
cine, science, and theology — throughout the empire. This 
law, which will be further referred to, forms a landmark 
in Brazilian education. One of its advanced features was 
the provision for obligatory education at the capital, 
which, however, is not yet enforced ; also, making instruc- 
tion in the Catholic religion optional in respect of non- 
Catholics. 

In giving a brief outline of public instruction in Bra- 
zil, it is proper to notice, first, that the several provinces 
have separate and exclusive control of popular education 
in their respective limits. This is both according to usage 
for half a century, and admitted constitutional law. On 
the other hand, the central Government exercises exclusive 
control over public academical education, or what corre- 
sponds to university education, and over popular educa- 
tion in what is called the neutral district of the capital. 
Each provincial legislature raises and appropriates the 
money for support of primary and secondary schools in 
the province, though there is no separate school fund, and 
makes the laws for the organization of such schools. The 
central Government has an indirect authority over the 
schools in this way, that each president of a province, by 
and under whom school inspectors, examiners, and com- 
mittees are appointed, receives his appointment from and 
must report to the central Government. There has been 
no complaint, however, of undue interference by the cen- 
tral Government with the separate educational affairs of 
the provinces. Primary schools are those where the simple 
branches are taught, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, 
and geography, and are attended by pupils of from seven 
to about twelve or fourteen years of age. Secondary 
schools are of a higher grade, where those branches are 



176 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



taught which are usually studied by pupils intending to 
pursue an academical course. In the primary schools of 
first grade, in the capital, according to the law of April 
19, 1879, drawing, singing, gymnastics, and simple sew- 
ing for girls, form part of the intruction ; and in the same 
schools of the second grade, the use of the needle by girls 
and mechanical work by boys, ideas of social economy for 
boys and of domestic economy for girls, ideas of agriculture 
and horticulture, physics, chemistry, and natural history 
in their application to industry, are among the prescribed 
branches of instruction. 

As a rule, boys and girls in Brazil attend separate 
schools, but the law just cited allows mixed schools at the 
capital for boys and girls up to the age of ten years ; and 
now, generally, in the public schools of Rio de J aneiro 
boys and girls up to ten years of age attend school to- 
gether. The same is the practice in the city of Pernam- 
buco. 

There are six normal schools for the training of teach- 
ers, situated at Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bahia, Per- 
nambuco, Maranham, and Para. Pupils are admitted at 
the age of sixteen, and the course lasts six years. A gradu- 
ate of either of these schools can be employed as a teacher 
without examination. Other teachers, after being once 
examined and employed as teachers, must undergo a 
further examination if they take another school in an- 
other province. In each province, residing at its capital, 
is a committee of three or five persons appointed by the 
inspector of instruction of the province, who examine all 
persons applying to be teachers. The teacher's salary is 
fixed by the Provincial Assembly. But the school must 
have a certain average attendance, the number varying 
in different provinces, but probably nowhere less than 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



177 



twenty. Teachers get their pay monthly from the pro- 
vincial treasury, at the capital of the province — often a 
great distance off — and they can draw it through a friend 
or agent. The average yearly pay of teachers throughout 
the country is small, say one conto of reis, or $450, with 
obligations to furnish apartments for the school. The prin- 
cipal (male) of one of the large public schools at Rio de 
Janeiro receives 1,800 milreis (say at present $720) a 
year, with rent of apartments connected with the school- 
building free. His tenure, however, is permanent, and 
after twenty-five years' service he will receive a pension of 
three quarters of his pay. The pay of the second teacher 
is about $200 less, and of the assistant over $300 less. 

After ten years' service, a teacher receives an increase 
of pay ; after fifteen years' service, another increase ; and 
still another increase after twenty-five years' service, if he 
chooses still to continue in the service. By custom, school- 
teachers in Brazil bear the title of " Professor." 

In recent years the municipal government of the capi- 
tal has created and now supports two large schools in spe- 
cial buildings and seven smaller ones in private buildings, 
in which latter boys and girls attend together. The other 
public schools of the capital are called government schools. 

There are no teachers' institutes, but the teachers of 
the "municipal" schools of the capital hold a general 
meeting twice a year, lasting two or three days, to which 
other teachers are invited. Educational periodicals have 
been started at different times, but have had only a tem- 
porary existence. Another was started the present year. 

The supervision of schools is exercised through the 
inspector-general, or director-general, as he is sometimes 
styled, of each province. As has been said, he receives 
his appointment from the president of the province. 



178 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



There is no fixed tenure, but changes are not frequent, 
and valuable men are usually selected to fill the office. 
The inspector-general of instruction for the province of 
Rio de Janeiro receives a salary of eight contos (8,000$- 
000), eight thousand milreis — say $3,200 per year ; the 
inspector-general for the capital,' 7,200$000— say $2,820 
per year. In the province of Sao Paulo the salary is 
$2,400 per year. 

The inspector-general of instruction in each province 
nominates or proposes, and the president appoints, a dele- 
gadoy or agent, for each comarca, or county, whose duty 
it is to inspect both primary and secondary schools, and 
see that the teacher discharges his or her duty. The 
teacher gives his returns and reports to the delegado, or 
agent, by whom they are communicated to the inspector- 
general. The office of delegado is honorary, no pay being 
attached to it. It is sometimes filled by priests, who are 
also occasionally, but not usually, employed as teachers. 
The inspector-general visits schools personally, so far as 
he is able to do so. He makes his report to the president 
of the province, but not to the central Government. The 
president usually presents an abstract of the report in his 
annual message or address to the Provincial Assembly ; 
but he makes no separate school report to the central 
Government. 

There is no separate school-tax nor fund, but the 
money for school purposes is voted by the Provincial As- 
sembly out of any money there may be in the provincial 
treasury. Throughout the rural districts, and in many 
towns, the public schools are usually kept in private 
rooms, which are provided by the teacher without extra 
allowance. As has been said, his contract is to teach and 
furnish the apartments. The Government provides the 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



179 



furniture. Of course, these accommodations are fre- 
quently insufficient. One will sometimes see school furni- 
ture that has been imported from the United States ; but 
there are now several places in Brazil where furniture 
similar to the American patterns is made. The pro- 
vincial authority furnishes all the school-books gratui- 
tously. 

There are as yet no movable schools, such as are 
found in sparsely settled parts of Scandinavia, though 
their introduction is being somewhat discussed. 

There are thirty school savings-banks in operation. 
The General Government has committed itself to this 
laudable system of inculcating habits of foresight and 
economy in children in the law of April 19, 1879, re- 
organizing primary and secondary instruction at the capi- 
tal. In that law it was required that a savings-bank 
should be organized in each school of the first and second 
grade — that is, that small sums of money which the pupils 
might wish to deposit should be received, and the amount 
returned in due time with interest. As, however, diffi- 
culties were met with in executing the law, new regula- 
tions to obviate them were issued by the Government, 
January 12, 1882. 

There is no uniformity of legislation in the different 
provinces on the subject of education. 

The annual appropriation for public instruction by 
the twenty different provinces amounts in the aggregate 
to two and a half million dollars. In addition to that, the 
General Assembly appropriates for higher instruction, 
and for the public schools at the capital, a little over one 
million dollars, making for the whole empire an expendi- 
ture of a little upward of three and a half million dollars 
of public money for educational purposes. 



180 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



The following table shows the specific appropriations 
for the higher schools of the empire and for the public 
schools of the capital for the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1885 : 



Seminaries (theological) $44,100 

Law-schools 106,660 

Medical schools 330,320 

Engineering School 120,836.80 

Mining School 33,920 

Normal School 28,640 

Academy of Fine Arts 28,860 

Dom Pedro II College 1Y3,094.80 

Primary and secondary instruction at the capital 230,436 

Blind, Deaf and Dumb, and Poor Asylums 60,348.36 



Total $1,157,215.96 



Although tuition is nominally free, students at the 
higher professional schools have to pay an annual fee for 
matriculation and for examination. For example, the 
course at the Medical School occupies eight years, and a 
fee of one hundred and two milreis — at present exchange 
about forty-one dollars — must be paid each year, of which 
half may be paid at the time of matriculation or the 
whole at the time of examination. At the Polytechnic 
School the fee is but half as much. At the time of gradu- 
ating, a fee must be paid for the diploma. 

I think I derived on the whole a favorable impression 
from a short visit I made to the Sao Jose Public School, 
supported by the municipality at Rio de Janeiro, and 
which must be considered one of the best in Brazil. It is 
a free school, admitting pupils without regard to color 
from all parts of the city. There are two large rooms on 
the basement-floor, one for boys and the other for girls, 
each having three divisions, separated by railings three 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



181 



feet high. One division, for example, had seats without 
desks, another had seats with desks ; and it is the practice 
every hour and a half to change the pupils from one di- 
vision to another, when they are expected to march single 
file, in good order, out and in. I first went into the boys' 
room, and was struck by its large size. On one side were 
six large windows open, and the ceiling was very high. 
The number of boys registered in that room was three 
hundred and fourteen ; but only one hundred and forty 
were present, the average attendance, and were apparent- 
ly of an age from seven to fourteen years. An assistant 
teacher appeared to have charge. There was at first a 
good deal of noise, like loud study, but perhaps not dis- 
order. The teacher rang a bell, and the room quieted 
down a little. All the pupils seemed well disposed, respect- 
ful, and interested in their work. The teacher offered to 
have any exercise I might wish. He called a class of a 
dozen or more boys to read, and they immediately gath- 
ered in a group around him and me, that we could the bet- 
ter hear. They appeared to go into the work with eager- 
ness, and read, I thought, tolerably well. I was rather 
pleased with their unrestrained manner. From the pen- 
manship and other things I saw, including drawing, I had 
no doubt the school was doing pretty good work. The 
boys, who, I supposed, belonged to the working class, were 
tidily dressed, and all had on shoes. 

The girls' room, under female teachers, was more 
quiet. One hundred and twenty were present. The room 
was divided into three divisions like the boys' room, and 
they changed places in fair order. A teacher works with 
each division at the same time. A number of excellent 
specimens of writing, and some of drawing and sewing, 
were shown me. I asked to have some of the little girls 
16 



182 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



make figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., on the blackboard, and for 
the most part they made the figures in a neat and uni- 
form style, which showed that they had received training 
in that frequently neglected line. " What reward do you 
hold out to pupils for special merit ? " I inquired of the 
principal. " We have a seat of honor," she replied, point- 
ing to a chair which stood alone with the back to the wall, 
" where a pupil sits for half an hour who has her lesson 
the most perfect of any in her class." Then, at her re- 
quest, three girls modestly stood up who had had the honor 
that forenoon to sit in the chair. " "We also," she said, 
" have a roll of honor of the names of three of the most 
advanced pupils, which is framed and hung upon the wall 
at the end of every three months." At the close of my 
visit she gave me an opportunity to enter in a large 
blank-book, kept for the remarks visitors may wish to 
make, such observations in regard to the school as I chose 
to record. 

As applicable to both of the schools, I learned that 
books and stationery were furnished free by the city gov- 
ernment. The term lasts eleven months continuously, 
with a vacation during December. The session each day 
is five hours, from 9 a. m. to 2 p. m., with a short inter- 
mission. The pupils study at home as well as at school. 
There are gymnastic exercises twice a week, also instruc- 
tion in singing twice a week. There are four grades, 
each of which is expected to be passed by a pupil in one 
year. A register is kept, and there is a roll-call at the 
end of each day. It is intended that study in school shall 
be silent. Attention is paid to moral instruction, but it 
is incidental. The school is opened with prayers of the 
Catholic Church, but attendance thereat is not obligatory. 
No particular religious qualifications are required of the 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



183 



teachers ; but they must be Brazilian subjects. Corporal 
punishment is not allowed in any school. The kind of 
punishment resorted to is usually to have the pupil stand, 
or to deprive him of a recess or of some favor. Parents 
are always welcome, but they seldom visit the school. 
The committee of examination is appointed by the Mu- 
nicipal Chamber. The director who now has charge of the 
municipal schools is Dr. Chagas Rosa. 

These two schools occupy separate wings of a build- 
ing, the central part of which on the same floor is a gen- 
eral assembly-room for the whole school, and which has 
at one end an altar that ordinarily is shut from view by a 
curtain. The front of the building outside is somewhat 
pretentious, there being four or more large statues set in 
niches, and very much out of proportion to the size of the 
building. The windows, however, are arched with the 
usual smooth granite facings. The building has a gray 
stone color which is agreeable. Ample granite steps are 
laid at each of three front entrances, and a neat but not 
large yard contains some patches of lawn, some flowers 
and shrubbery, and several shade-trees, all being inclosed 
with an iron fence resting on a granite base. 

Having noticed that the school-teacher in Brazil is 
called " Professor," I did not know but more than ordi- 
nary respect might be felt for the calling, and I asked the 
principal of one of the Rio public schools what rank teach- 
ers held in society. " The Government," he said, " would 
like to give consideration to the profession, but naturally 
a man with an income of only six or eight hundred dol- 
lars a year can not occupy much of a position in society." 

One of the best educational institutions is the Lyceu 
de Artes e Officios, a sort of technical school for fitting 
young people of the middle and poorer class for gaining a 



184: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



livelihood. It lias very roomy apartments opposite the 
National Printing-Offiee. Instruction is given evenings 
to nearly a thousand pupils of both sexes in various useful 
branches, including drawing, painting, sculpture, French, 
and English. The institution was founded in 1856, through 
the efforts of Mr. F. J. Bettencourt da Silva. 

There are not many separate school-buildings in Rio ; 
but there are many places where one sees a painted sign 
showing that there is a school kept for boys or girls. 
One sees also, between eight and nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing, many tidy children with their books, sometimes alone, 
sometimes a colored servant following close behind them, 
wending with animated step their way to school. 

There is scarcely any encouragement for American 
teachers to go to Brazil with the expectation of employ- 
ment in the public schools. A number of such, it is true, 
have found their way to the Argentine Republic, but their 
expectations were not realized; they have had a hard 
time. I think, however, that American young men who 
would learn the Portuguese language would find remu- 
nerative and agreeable employment as teachers of the 
English language in the families of planters. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 

A good share of the contentment of people in almost 
every country arises from their liberty to manage their own 
local affairs. Even in old European countries, with abso- 
lute governments, the people have generally been allowed 
to have their own way about many local concerns. 

For local government, every province of Brazil is 
divided into municipalities. Sometimes a municipality 
will include simply a city with its suburbs ; sometimes a 
small city* or village, and a large extent of contiguous ter- 
ritory. In this municipality we find that the people can 
elect a municipal body or council, called a chamber, con- 
sisting, in cities, of nine, and in villages of seven, members 
who hold for four years, and whose president, holding for 
one year, is elected by them from their own number. 
This president is the executive officer for the city, and 
corresponds somewhat to the office of mayor in the 
United States. The Municipal Chamber, whose room is 
often in the same building as the jail, can levy a tax on a 
few things, such as the manufacture and sale of spirits, 
the slaughter of beef-cattle, licenses, etc., but it can not 
tax property in general — neither houses nor vacant lots, 
nor personal property. The greater part of the municipal 
expenses are paid out of the municipal treasury from its 



186 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



own revenue, but nothing can be expended without the 
consent of the Provincial Assembly. The amount which 
any municipality may spend in a year has already been 
fixed and limited by the Provincial Assembly, and the 
Municipal Chamber must limit its estimate of expenses to 
such sum. The practice is for each municipal chamber 
to send, in due season, every year, its budget or estimate 
of expenses, specifying how much under each head, to the 
Provincial Assembly ; and the latter, usually as a matter 
of course, votes the amount in a general bill for all the 
municipalities of the province, yet showing the items for 
each municipality — so much for salaries, so much for 
lights, so much for rent, and so on. If the municipalities 
have not quite money enough in their own treasuries, the 
deficiency is voted out of the provincial treasury; but 
such deficiency probably would not amount in all to more 
than a quarter part of the aggregate municipal budgets. 
The Municipal Chamber has no control of schools, nor 
of the police, nor of paupers, and its powers indeed seem 
to be quite limited. It has, however, charge of sanitary 
matters, and of roads and streets in its limits. Besides 
electing a " chamber," the people can elect justices of the 
peace; but the agent and sub-agent of police, the col- 
lector of taxes, the prosecuting attorney, the inspector of 
schools, and the school-teachers are all appointed by the 
president of the province. Of course, the parish priest is 
appointed by the bishop. On the whole, therefore, it 
does not seem that a large amount of local self-govern- 
ment devolves on the people. 

The Municipal Council of Rio de Janeiro, like the 
others, is elected for a term of four years, and its presi- 
dent is the executive officer of the city. As, however, 
Eio de Janeiro, like the city of Washington, is directly 



LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 



187 



under the jurisdiction of the General Government, the 
council has subordinate authority. The matters of water- 
supply and street lights, for example, are controlled by 
the Imperial Government. The municipal body has no 
power to run into debt ; consequently, Rio, for a city of its 
size, has a very small debt. The city government, how- 
ever, justly or unjustly, is the target of a great deal of 
complaint. Within a couple of years it has moved into 
its new and handsome building, with marble floors and 
spacious marble stairways, fronting on Acclamation Park. 
The criminal court is held in the same building. 

The twenty provinces of Brazil not only have their 
separate legislatures and executive governments, but they 
can and do levy taxes on the live-stock and products 
brought into their respective limits from sister provinces. 

At the capital of every province there is a chief of 
police — an office next in dignity to that of president, and 
for which is usually selected a man of acknowledged judi- 
cial or legal ability. He receives his appointment from 
the central Government. 

The office of provincial president, like that of the 
Governor of a State, is very important. The appointment 
to it is made by the central Government without regard 
to place of residence. Sometimes very able men are ap- 
pointed to this office ; often, however, young and rather 
inexperienced men are appointed. The service is re- 
garded as a good school for training statesmen, and some 
of the ablest administrators of Brazil have served as pro- 
vincial presidents. The office affords a fine field for 
statesman-like ability, but, unfortunately, it has been 
granted in many cases as a reward for party service, and 
changes have been frequent. The " Paiz," a daily " jor- 
nal " of Rio, of May 19, 1885, laments that the Govern- 



188 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



ment should so often change the presidents of the prov- 
inces, not allowing them time to become experienced. A 
position as president, it says, is nearly always given with 
a view toward one of these two ends : to enable a party 
colleague to receive a certain amount of money for ex- 
penses of moving, or to find him a temporary situation 
during the intervals of the legislatures. As a rule, the 
administration of a president lasts only five or six months. 
The " Paiz " says it knows of one who received ten contos 
of reis (four thousand dollars) to defray " expenses " to 
go to Nictheroy (a distance of four miles) to manage the 
affairs of the province. 

" The financial state of the provinces," this journal 
adds, "is very bad; the most important have a deficit 
which they can not meet. In some the police is not 
paid, in others public-school teachers are left without a 
penny, in others public employes are paid in tenders ; all 
of which tend to paralyze necessary works and to cause 
general poverty. This state of affairs," it says, " shows a 
profound defect of administration, and threatens, if con- 
tinued, to ruin the country." 

It would take at least a couple of years for even a 
bright man to become familiar with all the official duties 
of president of an important province. In his reports and 
messages to the Provincial Assembly he must annually 
submit a clear statement of the condition of the province 
and its needs in respect of legislation; its industries, 
means of transportation, education, care of the poor, tran- 
quillity, and all the various interests that affect its welfare, 
need his guidance. All bills of the Provincial Assembly 
appropriating money for roads and bridges, improvements 
of navigation, schools, churches, the promotion of immi- 
gration, and the like, are approved or rejected by him. 



LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 



189 



It is remarkable, therefore, and, I should think, very 
unfortunate, that presidents of provinces hold their 
offices, on an average, only about one year or less. The 
practice in several European countries, of giving a perma- 
nent tenure to such posts, and filling them by the appoint- 
ment of tried and competent statesmen who wish to retire 
from active politics, would seem preferable. I know of 
at least one well-administered state in Europe where such 
posts are considered a dignified retreat for ex-cabinet min- 
isters. 

There are several other provincial officers, such as the 
secretary, the inspector of instruction, the collector of 
taxes, and the engineer. The latter has charge of all 
highways outside of the municipal limits. 

Most legislative assemblies will vote money lavishly 
when they have an overflowing treasury to draw from. 
But years of abundance are only exceptional; and it 
would benefit a province if its president had that position 
and influence that would enable him to prevent extrava- 
gant appropriations. Take the province of Amazonas, for 
example ; for a year or two, rubber, its great product, had 
a very high price ; the export of it was immensely stimu- 
lated, and, as the province collected a high export tax on 
the article, its treasury suddenly acquired a large surplus. 
What was the result ? The Provincial Assembly voted 
away the money in a prodigal manner ; and then in a year 
or so, when the rubber-trade suffered a very great depres- 
sion, they found their treasury very short of money. 
Baron de Mamore, of that province, spoke of this matter 
in the Senate on March 23, 1885. He is a Conservative, 
and naturally was not unwilling to make a point against 
the (Liberal) party in power. He said that, at the begin- 
ning of 1884, the province had in hand a balance of 



190 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



$600,000 ; when the ex-president turned over the admin- 
istration to his successor, the balance was $370,000; not 
quite a year had passed, and the province of Amazonas 
had not a penny to pay its public employes. Of the public 
works begun, not one had been completed ; the money 
expended so far would be a total loss, for it was not prob- 
able that the province would continue to have presidents 
who considered a theatre costing $400,000 and a lyceum 
based on European universities necessary to the capital. 
He mentioned as irregularities the granting of subsidies 
to students of photography, short-hand writing, law, medi- 
cine, etc., amounting to $7,200 ; for a theatre, $20,000 ; a 
monument, $27,000 ; and said that subsidies and interest 
guarantees amounted to a million dollars. "With reference 
to the public emancipation fund of the province (the most 
sacred of any money), he read an official table showing 
that $48,000 had been disbursed, of which $4,000 was ex- 
pended in fetes, and said that up to the middle of Janu- 
ary none of the abolition committees had settled accounts. 
He had made a memorandum of a case, which he read, 
where the party told him that he had received a loan of 
$3,200 from a member of a committee on the emancipa- 
tion fund ; and, upon making the first partial payment, 
was told that there was no hurry for paying the balance, 
which would be called for when the lender had to settle 
accounts with the treasury. 

Some of the provinces occupy a respectable position 
in regard to what has been done in the establishment of 
humane and benevolent institutions. There are several, 
however, which are still behindhand. 

The chief of police of the province of Parana, in his 
annual report to the president of the province, 1883, says, 
" I receive constant requests from various points in the 



i 



LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 



191 



province to receive into the jail at the capital (Curitiba) 
insane people, which I can not satisfy, both for the rea- 
son that the practice would be irregular, and that there 
are not accommodations." 

So, also, the manager of the public hospital of Maran- 
ham, in his report of 1881, laments that there is no suit- 
able place for the treatment of the insane, who have to 
be kept in the same building with other sick patients. 
The insane in the province, he states, could be counted 
by hundreds, and there was no suitable building for them. 
Some even wandered the streets without food or shelter. 
The next year, however, a country-house was bought and 
appropriated for the shelter of the insane. 

The Minister of the Department of the Empire, in his 
annual report for 1884, submitted the following reflec- 
tions as to the need of reorganizing the provincial and 
municipal governments: "The law of October 1, 1828, 
which modeled the provincial and municipal administra- 
tions, has failed of successful execution, in consequence of 
inadequate political conditions. A centralizing system 
has always arisen against its development. This antago- 
nism has created an abnormal situation, in which the un- 
certainty of rights and consequent weakness of authority, 
which should direct society, have produced disturbance, 
which must not continue, for the material and intellectual 
progress of our country will not allow it. 

" The law of October 1, 1828, which defined the func- 
tions of the municipalities, has been violated frequently 
by the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro. Of forty- 
nine days designed for ordinary sessions, and seven for 
extraordinary, the Chamber did not sit twenty-five. And 
even of the days it did sit, some were entirely thrown 
away, in consequence of the disorderly discussions and 



192 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



violent and tumultuous scenes among the members. Gov- 
ernment spared no means to set matters aright ; but, not 
succeeding, the members were suspended, and those of 
the preceding legislature were re-elected pro tern. The 
latter have been able to re-establish order in the admin- 
istration of the municipality, and have set themselves to 
meliorate the sanitary condition of the city." 

The report sets forth, therefore, the urgent necessity 
of a reorganization of the municipalities, whereby may 
be given to each body, which intervenes in its adminis- 
tration, certain and defined positions, and unquestionable 
functions, so as e not to continue the abnormal state of 
affairs of to-day, in .which the administrative powers waste 
their strength in a mutual contest as to their respective 
spheres of action. At present the central Government is 
too much burdened with local affairs of too little impor- 
tance compared with national affairs. 

A Portuguese long ago said that the fortune of a court- 
ier consisted in knowing how to flatter, to lie, to steal, 
and to divide. It would be singular if such talents had 
not descended to the present generation ; only we must 
remember that in any country the scene of the courtier's 
tricks shifts according as power and the purse-strings 
change from one branch of government to another. In 
the meaning of this Portuguese philosopher, there is no 
material difference between the courtier and the lobbyist. 
"We know that in the best countries there must be occa- 
sional cases of malversation, defalcation, and corruption 
in office ; and it is when these cases are dragged to light, 
exposed, and punished that one may safely conclude that 
the administration as a whole is sound and honest. I 
would not leave the impression that there is overmuch 
corruption in Brazilian administration ; it is a subject I 



LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 



193 



am too little acquainted with to give an opinion upon. I 
know, however, that intelligent and upright business men 
openly and firmly assert that administration is corrupt. 
Further, I have no knowledge of any recent case where 
any functionary has been punished for misbehavior in 
office. All that the public knows of corruption is what 
appears from a few feeble squeaks and murmurs of anony- 
mous correspondents through the paid columns of a news- 
paper. 

Able Brazilian publicists have repeatedly said with 
truth that the Brazilian has much better facilities for 
learning what has transpired and what is taking place in 
foreign countries than he has of what is taking place in 
his own country. 

" This sad condition of the Brazilian, knowing more 
about foreigners than of his own people," says Dr. Yieira 
Souto, " will only cease when our legislators become satis- 
fied that statistics are the only guide for making known 
the manner of existence and the development of society 
in all of its manifestations, the light which clearly guides 
the way for improving all branches of the public service." 

The principle of permanency, however, appears to 
exist in all branches of the civil service of Brazil except 
in the office of provincial president. 

17 



I 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 

The two parliamentary bodies composing tlie national 
legislature consist of a Senate, whose members, elected for 
life, are chosen by and represent the separate provinces ; 
and a Chamber of Deputies, whose members, elected for a 
term of four years, are chosen by and represent separate j 
districts. In the election of senator three persons are 
voted for, one of whom, and usually the one having the 
highest number of votes, is appointed by the Emperor. 
The position of senator is the most independent, digni- I 
fied, and desirable political office to which the Brazilian 
subject is eligible. The prime minister and several of 
the Cabinet are usually senators, still retaining their sena- 
torial position. The senators generally have passed the j 
middle of life before their election. They are liberally 
paid, and, like many of the deputies, are well-trained and 
able politicians and debaters. Of the two hundred and 
twelve senators who, up to 1884, had been elected since 
the creation of the Senate, two resigned, and one hun- 
dred and fifty-four died after an average service of fifteen 
years. The average service of the fifty-six senators then 
serving was eleven and a quarter years. 

The proceedings in both bodies are usually of a digni- 
fied and courteous character. The debates and speeches 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



195 



are taken down by stenographers and published at length 
in the leading morning newspaper of the capital, which 
is, perhaps, an incentive to excessive talk. The interrup- 
tions are very numerous. While a member is speaking, 
some other member, remaining in his seat, will exclaim, 
" I agree with you ! " or, " I don't agree with you ! " This 
will be done every few minutes, sometimes several mem- 
bers joining in the approval or dissent. The interrup- 
tions sometimes become as frequent and noisy as in an old- 
fashioned Methodist camp-meeting. The journal which 
gets paid for reporting the debates interlards all of the 
interruptions — printing them, indeed, in italics. The 
speeches are delivered extemporaneously, and usually in 
a conversational rather than declamatory manner. 

An example of humor in debate was a passage in a 
late speech of Senator Silveira Martins. He criticised 
the concentration of forces on the southern frontier, say- 
ing that one of the brigadiers was eighty years old, and 
falls off his horse when it stops ; and another, appointed 
to command a cavalry brigade, is paralyzed, never leaves 
his room, and can not even write. Another officer, sent 
from Rio Grande to Matto-Grosso, was obliged to mount 
an ox when proceeding on an expedition, and he produced 
a photograph in proof of his assertion. Thus the coun- 
try was in a perfect state of defense ; by sea it only had 
turtles, and on shore bovine cavalry ! 

There is no especially Catholic party in either the 
Chamber or the Senate, but the leading friend of the 
Church is Deputy Yianna, of Rio, whose remarks often 
have a religious tone. In a late speech he declared that 
his only intervention in the election in the province of 
Goyaz was, writing a letter to the bishop, asking his pro- 
tection for the Conservative candidate, which the bishop 



196 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION* AND PROSPECTS. 



did not consider lie could extend, but contented himself 
with prayer that so Catholic a community should not be 
represented by an enemy of the Church, and therefore of 
the country ; and that the bishop's prayer had been heard ! 

The Senate-house is a plain and separate building 
about a mile distant from that of the Chamber of Depu- 
ties, fronts on the now handsome Park of Santa Anna, 
and is close to the Mint. The Senate-chamber is about 
the size of the old Senate-chamber, now Supreme Court- 
room, at Washington. The floor is carpeted, and the 
chairs are arranged in three semicircular rows divided 
by two aisles ; and what answers for a continuous railing 
in front of them, and against which senators can lean 
when they speak, has a polished top of Brazil-wood, ma- 
hogany-colored, and about ten inches wide, which opens 
toward the chair so as to form a handy, cloth-covered desk 
for each senator when he has occasion to write. As a 
rule, these desks are closed, and thus outwardly form a ' 
convenient railing. The President of the Senate, Baron 
Cotigipe (prime minister since the latter part of 1885), 
leader of the Conservative party, and a man who looks a 
good deal as Henry Wilson did when a senator, sits at the 
center of a long and wide table, with the Yice-President 
and Secretaries, all of whom are senators, on either side of 
him. Behind the President's chair a long green curtain, 
suspended from the ceiling, shuts off the view of the im- 
perial chair, or throne, which the Emperor occupies when 
he opens and closes the legislative session. There is, 
therefore, no gallery in rear of the presiding officer. On 
his right is a small gallery for the imperial family, on 
his left another for the diplomatic body, each having a 
green curtain in front when vacant. Next to the diplo- 
matic gallery is one for the families of senators, while in j 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



197 



front of the presiding officer is the general public gallery 
that will accommodate a hundred people. On the main 
floor is a reception-room for senators and their visitors, 
and another exclusively for the Cabinet ministers. The 
first time that I saw the then prime minister, Senator 
Dantas, was in the Senate the afternoon of the 27th of Au- 
gust, 1884, toward the close of the session of Parliament. 
He is, perhaps, a little under medium height, stoutly 
built, with large and pleasant face, full beard, slightly 
gray, abundant hair, complexion hardly as dark as the 
usual Brazilian, large brown eyes, and wears glasses. His 
dress and manner were very simple. His coat was a dark- 
blue cloth sack which came below his knees. He was at 
first sitting on the left side of the presiding officer, but 
soon went to one of the usual seats and engaged in con- 
versation a few minutes with his predecessor, Senator 
Lafayette. About ten minutes afterward he rose and 
made a five minutes' speech in reply to some senators on 
the opposite side. The Chamber suddenly became ex- 
ceedingly still as he began to speak, and so continued dur- 
ing his remarks. He held in his right hand a printed 
document, gesticulated slightly with his left hand and 
arm, leaned a little over the railing in front of him, spoke 
in a conversational tone, fluently and earnestly, yet with 
unaffected modesty, which, joined to good temper, un- 
doubtedly is his characteristic strong point. Shortly after 
he had finished he stepped over across the aisle and stood 
conversing a few minutes with Senator Sinimbu, a former 
distinguished Liberal prime minister. 

Senator Sinimbu looks more like an American or an 
Englishman than a Brazilian. His complexion is inclined 
to be florid. His face is shaved, except a thin and gray 
; beard on each side and under his chin. Senator Lafayette 



198 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



is of medum height, inclined to be stout, has rather a He- 
brew face, very expressive black eyes, is somewhat bald, 
but with some strands of jet-black hair over the top of his 
head. He wears glasses, and might be taken for a college 
professor. He is distinguished for eloquence. Senator 
Saraiva, who assumed the office of prime minister, May 
5, 1885, is a man perhaps of as much character as there 
is in public life in Brazil. He is a tall man, with white 
hair and beard, sixty years of age or upward, stoutly built, 
a little stooping, wears a tall hat and long sack or over- 
coat, generally has a cigar in his mouth when in the street, 
is eminently practical and active, and might easily be taken 
for a large landed proprietor and energetic planter, which 
he is. These four, that I have mentioned, are Liberals. 
Several of the Conservative senators are planters of w r ealth 
and culture, and distinguished in appearance. The sen- 
ators are mostly large-sized men, and seem to enjoy them- 
selves seated in their arm-chairs with backs as high as their 
shoulders. Now and then one of them will take a pinch 
of snuff, and the bigger magnate he is, the more likely he 
he is to pull out a red cotton handkerchief with which to 
wipe his nose. I have looked down from the gallery on 
the Senate of modern Rome, but somehow I fancy that 
these Brazilian lawgivers resemble the ancient Romans as 
much as any I have seen. As a rule, the senators spend 
a great deal of their time at the capital, and have much 
influence in the Government. 

The lower house, called Chamber of Deputies, takes 
the initiatory in taxation and appropriations, but in mat- 
ters of ceremony the Senate has precedence. It is to the 
Senate that the Emperor goes to open or close a session. 
If the two bodies differ on some bill, committees of confer- 
ence are not appointed, as is done in the American Con- 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 199 



gress, but the two bodies meet in joint convention to con- 
sider the question. The deputies in such case go to the 
Senate, and sit or stand in a crowded condition on one 
side of the chamber while the senators occupy the other 
side. These joint meetings are rare, and the business 
done on such occasions is merely formal. I happened to 
be in the Chamber of Deputies when a committee of three, 
who had been sent to the Senate to ascertain when the 
latter body would receive the deputies in such a joint as- 
sembly, returned and made their report. All three were 
in evening dress — white cravats, white kid gloves, and 
swallow-tailed coats. 

The Government is essentially parliamentary. Cabi- 
nets come into power and go out according to the support 
they get in the Chamber of Deputies. No Cabinet under- 
takes to exist without a good working majority in that 
body. The Cabinet ministers sit and speak in each body. 
Depending as it does for existence on the will of the popu- 
lar branch of the legislature, the administration is neces- 
sarily influenced very much by public opinion, and is in 
danger of being influenced even by popular clamor. The 
fact that in recent times Cabinets have changed about once 
a year would seem to show that there is considerable in- 
trigue in political circles, or else that the situation has been 
exceedingly peculiar. I think that intrigue has had much 
to do with the changes. 

The Minister of Finance is usually the President of the 
Council and virtual prime minister. He it is, rather than 
the Emperor, who is regarded as responsible for the ad- 
ministration of the Government ; and he is accordingly 
allowed to have his own way a good deal in the selection 
of his colleagues ; though, of course, he selects those men 
who can count on the largest groups of friends among the 



200 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



deputies. The ministry of Mr. Lafayette came in on 
May 24, 1883. His minister of the Department of "War 
was Deputy Antonio Joaquim Rodrigues, Jr., of the prov- 
ince of Ceara, whom in the month of February follow- 
ing he caused to resign ; not, however, without resorting 
to correspondence which produced some sensation and 
which was justly regarded as quite unusual. The Minis- 
ter of War then resigned, but in the month of May follow- 
ing, in the discussion of the estimates of the Department 
of Finance, he attacked the prime minister, demanding full 
explanation of the reasons for the letter inviting him to 
resign ; and upon Mr. Lafayette replying to him, a scene 
of uproar ensued in which assertions of both sides were 
contradicted, and finally the lie was exchanged between 
the two disputants, when Mr. Rodrigues, J r., declared that 
Mr. Lafayette had acted with injustice and discourtesy, 
disloyalty and perfidy, and had sent the Minister of Justice 
to try and substitute another note for the letter, promising 
to do anything he wished for Ceara. This the Minister 
of Justice denied. 

As showing what part the Emperor takes in forming 
Cabinets, the regard that is paid to thorough publicity in 
such matters, and as illustrating also the style of expres- 
sion of Brazilian statesmen, I will here copy a short report 
of what was said in the Senate at the accession of the Dan- 
tas ministry, June 9, 1884, it being substantially the trans- 
lation published in the " Anglo-Brazilian Times." Mr. 
Lafayette Eodrigues Pereira — jurist, senator from the 
province of Minas-Geraes, and prime minister of the out- 
going Cabinet— said : " In view of what occurred on the 
3d instant in the Chamber of Deputies, the Cabinet of May 
24th became convinced that they had not the necessary 
parliamentary strength to continue to direct the public 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



201 



affairs and to carry out the ideas of tlieir programme of 
government. Consequently, I went the same evening to 
the palace, and in the name of myself and my colleagues, 
alleging the above reason, I asked his Majesty the Em- 
peror to be pleased to accept our resignation. His Ma- 
jesty consenting, asked whom I indicated to undertake to 
form a new ministry, and on my mentioning Senator Jose 
Antonio Saraiva, commanded me to invite Mr. Saraiva to 
come to the palace that same night. This command was 
obeyed at 8.30 p. m." 

Senator Saraiva : " On the 3d, at 9 p. m., I was invited 
by Conselheiro Lafayette, by command of the Emperor, to 
go to the palace. On arriving there, his Majesty said to 
me that Conselheiro Lafayette had indicated me as suc- 
cessor, and his Majesty having received the suggestion 
with pleasure, was desirous that I should form the new 
ministry. I replied to his Majesty that the reasons still 
subsisted that prevented my undertaking in 1883 the re- 
sponsibilities of government, namely, that I had no cer- 
tainty of being able to form a strong and durable ministry, 
capable of deciding or carrying forward toward a satis- 
factory solution grave questions agitated both in and out 
of Parliament, such as the slave question. His Majesty 
said that he considered it his duty to do all that was possi- 
ble to render the approaching elections of deputies most 
regular ; that he had entire confidence in me, and as I did 
not hold extreme opinions I could direct the slave ques- 
tion to a solution that would not compromise the great 
economic interests of the country ; that consequently he 
must insist upon my forming the new administration. I 
then observed to his Majesty that both the constitutional 
parties were interested in complete liberty of the elections ; 
that the leaders of those parties could carry out the ele- 



202 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



vated and patriotic idea his Majesty had so much at heart, 
were it only because those leaders were perfectly aware 
that a return to the old system of direct or indirect gov- 
ernment interference in the elections would considerably 
reduce the influence of the Chamber of Deputies upon 
the constitution of ministries ; that, as the Liberal party 
had fought during ten years of opposition for freedom of 
vote and had made a law to insure that freedom, it could 
not, under penalty of becoming unpopular, fail to do 
honor to the programme that had raised it to power. I 
added that, owing to the declarations I made in 1880 in 
the Chamber of Deputies, I could not assume the respon- 
sibility of power without treating specially of the slave 
question, but that I could not at present form a ministry 
that would be homogeneous in regard to this matter, and 
which, because of its homogeneity, could exert an effica- 
cious influence upon the Liberal party ; finally, that with- 
out the strong support of its party no government could 
have any certainty of a good result, even though the pre- 
dominating idea were a national aspiration. This is more 
or less what passed between his Majesty the Emperor 
and myself." 

Senator Dantas : " On the 4th instant the honorable 
ex-President of the Council came to me to deliver to me 
his Majesty's command to appear at the Sao Christovao 
Palace at 6 p. m. of the same day. At the hour fixed I 
presented myself at the palace, and, on being admitted to 
his Majesty's presence, he deigned to consult me upon 
various points, especially in regard to the ministerial 
crisis on the 3d. With the loyalty due to the chief of 
the state, I furnished all the information I could, and at 
the same time gave my humble opinion upon the difficul- 
ties of the occasion. Thus closed the audience with which 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



203 



his Majesty honored me. About midnight of the same 
day I was again sought by the ex-President of the Coun- 
cil, who, by command of his Majesty the Emperor, in- 
vited me to appear at the palace at 10 a. m. of the next 
day. Having punctually obeyed this command, his Ma- 
jesty deigned to tell me that he had resolved on intrust- 
in g me with the formation of a new minis tr v. With due 
reverence I stated to his Majesty my reasons for declin- 
ing so great an honor. His Majesty insisted again, but I 
persisted in justifying the grounds of my excuse. Fi- 
nally, as his Majesty gave favorable acceptance to the 
terms which I thought would authorize me to undertake 
the ministerial organization, I obeyed the command, in 
the conviction that thereby I also obeyed a great and im- 
perative duty in the grave circumstances in which my 
services were considered useful to the public cause. On 
retiring from Sao Christovao, I undertook at once to come 
to an understanding with different political friends, and, 
returning at night to the palace, I presented the names of 
the distinguished citizens who constitute the present 
Cabinet. I must now state to the Senate the programme 
that the ministry has adopted and proposes to carry out. 
Mr. President, among the various questions that press 
upon the attention and study of the Government, there 
| are two that at present dominate all the rest : that of the 
! finances and that of slavery. The ministry think it a 
. duty to explain themselves upon both in such a manner 
I as to render their views evident, with the object of defin- 
i ing their responsibility before the country as to the man- 
ner in which the Government intend to treat both. The 
absence of equilibrium between the public revenue and 
expenditure is known, and the illustrious ex-Minister of 
Finance demonstrated it completely in his report to the 



204 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



General Assembly. Unfortunately, the evil is one of 
years of duration, and, without treating now of its cause, 
I will simply mention the fact for the purpose of saying 
that it is urgent to adopt efficacious and persevering 
measures to remove it as soon as possible. First, it im- 
poses on the Government the absolute necessity of a rigor- 
ous observance of the estimates and the strictest oversight 
of the collection of our revenue ; and, lastly, an intelligent 
and severe reduction of the expense, as much as we can 
without injury to the necessary improvements that have 
already been commenced and are in execution. The Gov- 
ernment, however, believes that in our present circum- 
stances these measures, though what economic and finan- 
cial science usually counsels for such cases, will not suffice 
us. We must, and we pledge ourselves to this also, di- 
minish our responsibilities as much as possible, as a means 
of strengthening the public credit, availing of this credit 
less and less, to maintain its vigor, until now intact. Fi- 
nally, we must confess, we shall have to resort to some 
other means of enlarging the revenue, and as to this we 
will adopt as a basis the idea of the bill reported by the 
committee on estimates, of the Chamber of Deputies, 
both as to the creation of certain taxes and as to the con- 
version of the funded internal debt." 

It will strike almost any one, I think, that the " effica- 
cious and persevering measures " for improving the 
finances, which the ministry thought it their duty to ex- 
plain in such a manner as " to render their views evident," 
are very vaguely stated. These generalities were scarce 
any improvement on what several of his predecessors had 
uttered on entering upon the same office. The following 
views which he delivered on the slavery question are 
more definite, though it will be seen that, while propos- 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 205 



ing the liberation of slaves upward of sixty years of age, 
he omits to say whether or not the owners are to be re- 
munerated : 

" I must now declare the views of the Cabinet upon the 
slave question. We have arrived, Mr. President, at a 
point where the Government ought to intervene most 
seriously in the progressive solution of this problem, and 
bring it frankly before the Parliament, which has to pro- 
vide the solution. In this matter no retrocession, no stop- 
ping, no precipitation. It is, therefore, the special pur- 
pose of the Government to give movement to this ques- 
tion, both in satisfaction to generous sentiments and 
humanitarian aspirations and in homage to the vested 
rights of property involved in it, and to the greater in- 
terests of the country dependent on that agricultural 
wealth which, unfortunately, is still linked most intimately 
with this anomalous institution. It is the imperative 
duty of the Government and legislature to fix the line 
to which prudence permits and civilization obliges us to 
advance, so that it will become possible to prevent law- 
lessness and excess that compromise the solution of the 
problem without advancing it. For this purpose the 
Government considers it indispensable to adopt a general 
measure that shall establish throughout the country that 
provincial localization of the slaves which has already 
made progress in provincial legislation. This, however, 
is not sufficient. The emancipation fund works now 
within a very limited sphere, and the Government will 
promote a powerful measure to increase it to great di- 
mensions. I refer to a national tax, one which will call 
upon all, not merely the slave-owners, to contribute to the 
extinction of slavery. Another measure which the Gov- 
ernment considers equitable and opportune is the libera- 
ls 



206 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



tion of the slaves who have reached or will reach sixty 
years of age. The powerful reasons supporting this meas- 
ure, one that would do honor to the philanthropic disposi- 
tion of Brazilians, need not be mentioned now, and the 
Government will reserve them for the debate on the bill 
that will be submitted to you. 3 ' 

After referring to some other subjects upon which the 
Government would propose legislation, including that of 
civil marriage, he continued : " At the moment when the 
present ministry commence their administration, little or 
no time separates us from the elections (of deputies). 
The Cabinet consider it a duty to declare to you that if 
they continue in the direction of affairs they will maintain 
entire neutrality in the struggle, thus honoring the pre- 
cedent established by the Cabinet of March 28th. By 
themselves and by their appointees in the provinces they 
will not fail to repress fraud and violence, in order that 
the election may be true and free, leaving it to the ac- 
count of the parties and their leaders — conquer who con- 
quers. The wisdom of the Senate will assist me, I hope, 
in the difficult path I must follow." 

Senator Correia, one of the Conservative leaders, then 
criticised the declarations which had been made; he 
wished to know what the conditions were which the new 
prime minister considered as justifying his acceptance of 
office ; also what passed at the audiences with the Emperor 
of Senators Sinimbu and Affonso Celso. 

Senator Sinimbu said that he recognized the right of 
the Chambers to know what passed between the Crown 
and those called upon to inform upon public affairs, but 
judged it proper to allow the ex-President of the Council 
and the present President of the Council to previously 
make their declarations. Invited on the 4th to the palace, 



! 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



207 



lie was asked by his Majesty for his opinion upon the 
causes of the crisis and upon the slave question ; that he 
replied that the crisis had been caused chiefly by the 
affair of October 25th (what he means by the affair of 
October 25th was the assassination of the editor of a scur- 
rilous newspaper by alleged undetected military officers), 
by the process adopted for the conversion of the monastic 
property, by the official assent to the irregular manner in 
which the Ceara emancipation had been effected, and to 
the initiation of a like movement in other parts of the 
empire, and by the unusual manner in which the minis- 
terial change of February 29th had been effected ; that 
under the circumstances the most convenient solution of 
the crisis would be the formation of a Cabinet able to re- 
unite the party and relieve the Conservatives of their fears 
of interference with the approaching elections ; that this 
solution was not beyond the power of the Liberal party, 
and that all would hail the accession of Mr. Saraiva ; that 
he did not consider the occasion proper for a dissolution 
of a Chamber freely elected, as was generally acknowl- 
edged ; that as to slavery he still maintained the opinion 
declared at the Agricultural Congress, namely, execution 
of the law of September 28, 1871, with the development 
it is susceptible of." 

Senator Affonso Celso said that he had also received 
on the 4th a similar command to go to the palace, but at 
a later hour ; that it was enough for him to say that his 
opinion on the crisis and on the slave question was, he 
was glad to find, identical with that expressed by Mr. 
Sinimbu, as just stated to the Senate. He would merely 
add that in regard to slavery, along with guarantee of the 
property recognized by law, and the personal security of 
the owners, it would be requisite that the new Cabinet 



208 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



should give a greater impulse to the too slow emancipat- 
ing movement of the law of September 28, 1871, by in- 
creasing the emancipation fund, and by adopting other 
measures to make it more effective. He had, however, 
declared to his Majesty that acceleration of the emancipa- 
tory movement, as well as other measures of great impor- 
tance to the future of the country, were bound up in the 
improvement of the financial situation, and that this im- 
provement was the first thing to be undertaken. In fact, 
he thought material improvements, transformation of la- 
bor, reform of the administration, reconstruction of the 
state patrimonies, of the provinces, of the municipalities, 
redemption of the paper money, order, plenty, and progress 
in the interior, confidence and credit abroad, can not be 
thought of by a statesman while the rule of permanent 
deficits exists, together with the system of contracting 
new loans to pay the interest of old ones ; that, there- 
fore, one of the greatest aims of the new Cabinet should 
be to endeavor to render the public finances more pros- 
perous. This was the first necessity, the fundamental base, 
for every aspiration. 

It was immediately after this that Senator Ottoni de- 
livered his interesting and important speech, liberal ex- 
tracts from which will be found under the head of slavery. 
Some days later a bill was introduced by the ministry for 
liberating all slaves of the age of sixty years and upward, 
but, as it was unaccompanied by any provision for remu- 
nerating the owners, it failed to receive the full support 
of the Liberal party ; Deputy Albuquerque, who had been 
Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet preceding the 
Lafayette ministry, being on that ground one of the lead- 
ing opponents of it in the Liberal ranks. The new Cabinet 
having thus experienced a defeat on a vital measure, the 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



209 



question arose whether it should go out and an attempt 
be made to form a Conservative ministry, or whether, as 
the time was near at hand for a new Chamber to-be elected 
it would be better to wait the result of that election, leav- 
ing the Cabinet meantime unchanged. The latter course 
was adopted. A meeting was held by the Grand Council 
of State, and by its advice it was decided to dissolve the 
Chamber of Deputies ; but this was not done till after the 
usual appropriation bills were passed, by which time the 
Chamber had sat out nearly its full constitutional time. 
During the ensuing political canvass there was no speech- 
making, such as occurs in England and in the United 
States, and which is so instructive to the public mind. 
The Abolition Society of Rio de Janeiro, in their address to 
the electors, September, 1884, recommending the support 
of Mr. Jose Carlos do Patrocinio for the General Assem- 
bly, declared that, limiting their aspirations to what was 
lawful, and deriving their force from the law, they directed 
their efforts to the solution of the labor problem, endeav- 
oring to substitute the man for the slave, and liberty for 
slavery. Appealing, they said, to the electoral body of 
the capital of the empire, they addressed themselves to 
the most enlightened and conscientious who exercise sov- 
ereignty, but also knew that an erroneous political notion 
restricts the exercise of popular sovereignty in such a 
manner that, in a municipality like that of the capital of 
more than 600,000 souls, barely 6,793 citizens are qualified 
voters, being in the ratio of one elector for more than one 
hundred inhabitants. The forms of the electoral organi- 
zation, they declared, have resulted in the continuance of 
a parliamentary system all in the interest of caste rather 
than the development of order in liberty, the stability of 
institutions in respect to the rights of man, the founda- 



210 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION" AND PROSPECTS. 



tion of public wealth on the most fruitful and solid of 
properties — the property of labor. 

With reference to the Republican party in Brazil, 
which formerly, it would seem, was stronger than it is at 
present, Mr. Jose do Patrocinio, a noted abolitionist and 
editor of the evening paper, made some amusing remarks 
in a public address at Rio, September 7, 1884 : " In gen- 
eral, 5 ' he said, " the proportion of deserters in any party 
was about ten per cent ; but, in respect of the Republican 
party in Brazil, it was different— the faithful constituted 
ten per cent, and the deserters ninety per cent ! " 

The general election for a new Chamber of Deputies, 
for a term of four years, commenced in December, 1884. 
I say commenced, because under the rule requiring the 
successful candidate to have a majority of all votes cast, 
instead of a plurality, the election had in several districts 
to be repeated two or three times. There was, of course, 
considerable excitement, some fraud, and some violence, 
but it struck me that there was less trouble than one would 
naturally suppose under all the circumstances. Judging, 
however, from remarks of opposition senators and depu- 
ties since the legislature convened, one would think that 
the elections were attended with an unprecedented degree 
of rascality and violence. That a few people were killed, 
and that there was some fraudulent voting, might have 
been expected ; and such were the facts. It is a signifi- 
cant fact that no certain knowledge of the political result 
of the election, as bearing on the ministry's plan of liber- 
ation, could be known till after the meeting of the newly 
elected Chamber of Deputies, in March, 1885. 

This extra session of the General Assembly was opened 
by the Emperor in the Senate-chamber on Sunday, March 
8, 1885, after a celebration of mass at the Imperial Chapel. 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



211 



Though called solely for the settlement of some scheme 
of emancipation, the subject was treated in the speech 
read by the Emperor only in these few general words, 
namely : " The present extra session was advised by the 
need, which certainly you will meet with the greatest 
solicitude, of deciding in regard to the project which the 
Government judges useful for the gradual extinction of 
slavery in our country, agreeably to the desire of all Bra- 
zilians, in a way that will cause the least possible sacrifice, 
and without interfering with the development of the pro- 
ductive forces of the nation." 

The Emperor comes in considerable state to open the 
General Assembly, and yet in a simple manner as com- 
pared with the usage of some European sovereigns, who en- 
ter the hall of state wearing a crown and royal robes, with 
a brilliant escort of soldiers and civil and military officers 
richly uniformed, and moving to martial music, the throne 
meantime being densely surrounded by officers of the life- 
guards. His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, wearing a 
uniform, drives to the Senate in his usual carriage, drawn 
by six horses, with a mounted escort, and is received at 
the outer door by a joint committee of the Senate and 
Chamber of Deputies. On the occasion of the opening 
of this extra session the two bodies in joint assembly ap- 
pointed twenty-four deputies and twelve senators to meet 
the Emperor at the door and conduct him to the throne. 
Four deputies and two senators were likewise appointed 
to meet the Empress and conduct her to her place in the 
imperial gallery. 

On March 12th the Chamber of Deputies proceeded 
to elect a presiding officer, selecting for this purpose Mr. 
Moreira de Barros, the head of the Liberal opposition of 
about twelve members, with the aid of Conservative votes ; 



212 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PBOSPECTS. 



but, as there were some forty deputies who could not vote 
because their credentials had not been decided upon, the 
prime minister (Liberal) declared in the Senate that such 
vote could not under the circumstances be accepted as a 
ministerial defeat. With reference to this proceeding the 
" Paiz " newspaper said, " One half the country, which is 
still outside the legislature " (referring to those members 
whose credentials were not acted upon), " can not logically 
be subjected to the decision of any minority whose mem- 
bers are already recognized as deputies.' 5 With reference 
to the way in which business was held in check in both 
branches of the legislature the first part of the extra ses- 
sion of 1885, pending the decision of so many contested 
election cases, a Rio journal said : " That ten dissatisfied 
Liberal members of the Chamber, acting in connection 
with their political opponents, could so completely succeed 
in obstructing parliamentary work needs explanation. The 
cause seems to us to be found in the last electoral law, and 
the effect only to be removed by such a modification of 
this law as will greatly increase the suffrage, to the end 
that the Chamber of Deputies may more nearly represent 
the country, and not that very small section of it which it 
now represents. . . . A sincere observer of political affairs 
in Brazil can not claim that the Chamber of Deputies as 
at present constituted represents the public opinion of the 
empire. The manner in which deputies are elected proves 
the contrary. The practice is for the candidate to issue a 
circular to the electors of the district he wishes to repre- 
sent, and if possible secure some indorsement of his pre- 
tensions by the chiefs of his party ; then personal visits to 
local magnates are made, and if their support be secured, 
the candidate may calmly and confidently await the re- 
sult. There is no personal contact with the great mass of 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 



213 



the people, no speech-making, or attempts at raising en- 
thusiasm ; the election canvass is generally as flat as possi- 
ble, and when disturbances occur the cause can generally 
be found in the enmity of local chiefs, and the actors are 
their personal followers. It is no uncommon thing for a 
candidate for a district in the north, or in the interior, to 
remain in Rio during the time that would be employed 
in England or in the United States in actively canvassing 
his proposed constituency. How can it be claimed that a 
deputy, for example, from Para who has never left this 
capital can represent the public opinion of his district, 
which opinion he has only heard by proxy ; and how can 
the electors of that district know anything of his opinions 
save from his circular and the indorsements of personal 
and political friends and relatives ? . . . Another proof of 
our argument is shown by the professions of the deputies. 
Whereas the House of Commons is to a large extent 
composed of merchants, bankers, and manufacturers, our 
Chamber is almost exclusively formed of lawyers, with an 
occasional medical man, and a rare planter, unless in com- 
bination with the lawyer. . . . There must be unprofes- 
sional men who are sufficiently interested in commerce 
and trade to offer themselves as candidates, and the intro- 
duction of a few such into the composition of the Cham- 
ber could not but be attended with advantage. Politics 
is made entirely too much a means of support, and, the 
same members being returned again and again, political 
cabals are easily brought about, and personal questions 
quite as frequently cause the fall of a ministry as politi- 
cal, economic, or other principles. We think an extension 
of the suffrage would go far to correct the present unfor- 
tunate state of affairs." 

The foregoing, together with what is found in the 



214 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



chapter on slavery, will enable one to form a fair judg- 
ment of the political situation and of the practice of poli- 
tics in Brazil. It will be seen that parliamentary govern- 
ment is there carried on with as much ability and fairness 
as it is in some European countries. Some things un- 
doubtedly are to be deplored. An ex-Cabinet minister 
said to an acquaintance of mine, at Rio, " I would sooner 
bury my son than to bring him up in politics." His 
opinion was formed doubtless by the ups and downs — the 
uncertainty — as well as by the intrigue and corruption 
there are in politics. The Brazilians feel that they have 
a tremendously great country, and one which has a splen- 
did destiny. They are proud of it, and will not permit it to 
fall into too much discredit. The honors which in a par- 
liamentary system await a high order of statesmanship are 
healthy incentives, and I believe the tendency in Brazil is 
toward improvement under her present system. 

The return of the adjutant - general of the army 
shows that the aggregate number of officers and enlisted 
men is 13,764, being the military strength of the country 
on a peace basis. It consists, in round numbers, of 3,000 
artillery, 2,500 cavalry, and 8,000 infantry, and is widely 
detached in the different provinces. The principal de- 
tachment, comprising 4,000 men, under a general officer, 
is stationed in the province of Rio Grande do Sul, which 
borders the Republic of Uruguay ; about 2,000 men are 
stationed in the frontier province of Matto-Grosso } 1,000 
in the province of Pernambuco ; 600 in the province of 
Para; about the same number in each of the provinces of 
Bahia and Parana, and about 3,000 at the capital — each 
detachment being under the command of a general officer. 
In the other provinces there are detachments which are 
under the command of the respective presidents. The 



PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT. 215 



enlisted men of the army are all volunteers, wlio have en- 
gaged to serve for a term of six years. Their pay is only 
about two dollars a month, besides board and clothing. A 
law was passed ten years ago making military service for 
eight years obligatory on males between eighteen and 
thirty years of age — the requisite number to be drawn by 
lot. As yet, however, it has not been found necessary to 
enforce it. The annual military expenses amount to six 
million dollars. 

Brazil is rather liberal in her system of military pen- 
sions. Those who received wounds or injuries to health 
in the Paraguayan war, as well as the widows, children, or 
sisters of those who were killed, receive an allowance of 
six dollars and upward a month. The widow of an officer 
killed in war would now receive a pension equal to his 
full pay. Where there are male children, but not a widow, 
they would receive the pension till they were of age ; and 
a daughter, if an only child, and the mother not living, 
would receive the full pension during her life, whether 
married or single. So, also, officers who distinguished 
themselves in the war, though never wounded, receive a 
pension in some cases as high as twenty-five hundred dol- 
lars a year. 

A commission, of which his Royal Highness Count 
d'Eu was president, and the adjutant -general, quarter- 
master-general, and three other general officers were mem- 
bers, was appointed two years ago to elaborate a plan of 
| army organization in accord with improvements intro- 
duced into modern armies, and which would be suitable 
I for Brazil. The plan they reported contemplates an ag- 
| gregate force, in time of peace, of 1,129 commissioned 
I officers and 15,000 enlisted men, and which in time of 
I war could be increased to an army of 30,000 men. 



CHAPTEE XIY. 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 

As the language of Brazil is the Portuguese, a few re- 
marks in regard to it may serve as a suitable introduction 
to a sketch of Brazilian literature. The Portuguese lan- 
guage, like the Spanish, is founded on the Latin. This is 
evident from the many Latin words still in use in the lan- 
guage, even if there were no historical proofs of the fact. 
Prof. Ticknor, in his "History of Spanish Literature," 
points out that Christianity, beginning as early at least as 
the second century, was introduced into the peninsula, 
comprising Spain and Portugal, in the Latin language. 
That fact, he says, is very important, as showing that no 
other language was left strong enough to contend with it, 
at least through the middle and southern portions of the 
country. The Christian clergy, however, he says, ad- 
dressed themselves for a long period to the lower and 
more ignorant classes of society, because the refined and 
the powerful refused to listen to them, and therefore 
used the degraded Latin which the common people spoke. 
He is of the opinion that "the modern languages and 
their dialects in the south of Europe were, so far as the 
Latin was concerned, formed out of the popular and vul- 
gar Latin found in the mouths of the common people ; 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



217 



and tliat Christianity, more than any single cause, was the 
medium and means by which this change from one to the 
other was brought about. 55 The Portuguese language re- 
ceived additions and modifications by the invasion of the 
Goths in the fifth century and of the Arabs in the eighth 
century, but still retains distinctive Latin characteristics. 
There are so many words in common use, in the Portu- 
guese, like the Latin, that it does not require a great 
stretch of the imagination to fancy that the people one 
sees and hears in Brazil are descendants of an ancient 
Latin race, and speak a language that could almost have 
been understood by the every-day people in the time and 
country of Horace. The similarity of the architecture of 
Rio, especially of the shops, with what is seen in the re- 
mains of the old Roman cities, makes the idea seem not 
unreasonable. Of course, from my limited acquaintance 
with the Portuguese language, I would not presume, un- 
aided, to give a sketch of Brazilian literature ; and most 
of the matter which follows in this chapter has been sup- 
plied by Mr. Shalders, a conscientious and talented gradu- 
ate of one of Brazil's highest institutions of learning. 

Among Brazilian authors probably Jose Martiniano de 
Alencar, Bernardo Guimaraes, and J. M. de Macedo, by 
general consent, occupy the prominent places. The first- 
, named belonged to the present era, and composed about 
| thirty works of fiction, of which " Iracema " and " Gua- 
rany " are regarded as the best. He was born at Ceara, 
: northern Brazil, May 1, 1829, and his early childhood 
was there spent. At the age of ten his family moved to 
Eio de Janeiro, making the very long journey thither by 
land. At Rio he received his first scholastic training, 
after which he studied law at the Sao Paulo and Olinda 
schools, graduating at the latter in 1851. Returning to 
19 



218 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Rio, lie there spent the rest of his life, following during the 
first four years the profession of lawyer. His early ardent 
desire of becoming an editor was satisfied on his becoming 
proprietor and editor of the " Diario do Rio " ; here he 
began to publish his first writings, entitled " Ao Oorrer da 
Penna" (" The Running of the Pen "), on various topics, 
which soon attracted and fixed the attention of the public. 
About this time Gongalves Magalhaes published his " Con- 
federate dos Tamoyos," a work which incited Alencar's 
ambition. Alencar became Professor of Mercantile Law 
in the Commercial Institute of Rio, was deputy in the 
General Assembly in several legislatures, Counselor of 
the Ministry of Justice, and, later on, Minister of Justice,, 
He died December 12, 1877, at a house in Rua Guana- 
bara, which he had selected in search of better atmos- 
phere. The historical groundwork of his "Xraceraa" is 
substantially this : "In 1603 Pero Coelho started from 
Parahyba with eighty colonists and eight hundred Indians, 
and settled at the mouth of the Jaguaribe, and there 
founded a colony, the first in the province of Ceara. 
Pero Coelho, having been abandoned by his companions, 
Joao Soromenho was sent to his help, which latter having 
arrived at the place, began to attack the Indians, who were 
friends of the Portuguese. This ruined the recent colony ; 
the colonists were forced to withdraw on account of the 
hostilities of the Indians, and Pero Coelho was obliged to 
retire to Parahyba. In the first expedition a young man 
named Martim Soares Moreno formed a friendship with 
Jacalina, chief of the Indians of the coast, and with his 
brother Poty. Later on this Martim, having established a 
colony there, J acatina came with his people to live in the 
neighborhood in order to protect the Portuguese from the 
Indians of the interior. " Iracema " is a poem in prose. 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



219 



The scene lies in the interior of Ceara among the Indians 
first among those who are enemies of the coast Indians, 
and toward the end among the latter. Martim is the hero. 
The legend runs thus : Martim finds himself lost in the 
woods, when suddenly he is in the presence of an Indian 
girl of the Tabayara race, enemy to that of the coast. 
The girl shoots an arrow which strikes Martim on the 
forehead, but, repenting immediately of her deed, she 
runs to him, dresses the wound, and conducts him to the 
cabin of her father, who is the chief of the tribe. Martim 
is treated by the chief with hospitality, and stays at his 
house a long time, acquires the fame of a great warrior, 
and falls in love with the girl, or rather she with him. 
The principal warrior of the tribe becomes enraged with 
him on that account, from being in lore with the girl 
himself ; he requires of the chief that Martim should be 
given over to his vengeance ; Martim is discovered by his 
friend Poty and flees — the two being escorted by the In- 
dian girl, who is named Iracema. Once outside her father's 
domains, she declares that she will not leave Martim. 
A war then ensues between the Tabayaras and Martini's 
friends, in which Iracema shows herself a heroine in sav- 
ing Martim's life. Finally, Martim begins to grow cold 
toward Iracema from his longings to go back to his peo- 
ple ; he absents himself for some time, and when he re- 
turns to Iracema he finds her languishing away ; she has 
barely strength to lift her child up to Martim's arms, and 

i then faints and dies. 

The following, describing this tragic end, is perhaps 

J the most touching passage in the poem : 

"The Christian moved with uncertain steps. Sud- 

! denly, among the foliage of the trees, his eyes beheld, sit- 

; ting at the door of the cabin, Iracema with her child at 



220 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



lier breast, and the dog playing at her side. His heart 
was filled, and his soul would start to his lips — Iracema ! 
. . . The sad mother and spouse raised her eyes at hearing 
the beloved voice. "With great effort, she succeeded in 
lifting her child in her arms and presenting it to its father, 
who contemplated it in an ecstasy of love. ' Receive 
the son of thy blood. It is time ; my ungrateful breasts 
have no longer nourishment to give him ! ' Placing the 
child in the paternal arms, the unfortunate mother fainted 
as fades the jetyca when it is plucked. The husband then 
saw how grief had caused her beautiful body to fade ; but 
still beauty was in her, just as the perfume in the flower 
fallen from the manaca. Iracema rose no more from the 
hammock in which the afflicted arms of Martim placed 
her. The loving husband, in whom affection had revived 
with the paternal joy, surrounded her with affectionate 
cares, which filled her soul with delight, but restored not 
life to her ; her bloom had passed. 

" 6 Bury the remains of thy wife beside the cocoanut- 
tree which thou lovedst. When the breeze blows through 
its foliage, Iracema will think it is thy voice sounding in 
her hair. 5 

"The sweet lips were silent forever; the last glow 
took leave of the dim eyes. 

"Poty held up his brother in his great sorrow." 

Alencar's " Guarany " is another work in which the 
principal character is an Indian who shows great devotion 
and faithfulness to a young Portuguese woman, whom he 
treated as his mistress and for whom more than once he 
risked his life. Alencar tried to form in romance the 
same school which Gongalves Dias wished to do in verse. 
Both created a kind of native style. In their works the 
principal characters are native Indians, and they occupy 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



221 



themselves with their language, habits, and temperament. 
But neither of these two authors found followers, although 
their works are greatly appreciated. 

Bernardo Guimaraes was bom in Ouro Preto, August 
15, 1825. At four years of age his family removed to 
Uberaba, where he received his primary education. He 
also studied in. Campo Bello and Ouro Preto. In 1842, 
during a revolution in Minas, he left school and enlisted 
as a soldier. A short time afterward he matriculated in 
the academy at Sao Paulo, where he mingled with Al- 
vares de Azevedo, Aureliano Lessa, and others. He suc- 
ceeded in taking his degree, and soon after tried the pro- 
fession of teacher, which, however, he shortly abandoned. 
He then came to Rio and became a journalist, but he 
soon left this occupation, to return to Ouro Preto, where 
he afterward married his cousin, Dona Thereza Guimaraes. 
Then he devoted himself, body and soul, to poetry and 
novels, entirely forgetful of his commonplace condition 
of bachelor of laws. He remained there till his death, 
which happened on March 10, 1884. 

In Sao Paulo Guimaraes acquired convivial habits, 
which, however, did not seem to affect his robust consti- 
tution, nor deprive him of the qualities which made him 
one of the most original poets and novelists of his coun- 
try. His " Cantos da Solidao " are admired. His prose 
works are numerous; and the best is the "Ermitao de 
Muquem," which is written in three different styles : the 
first, a style peculiar to himself, describing the habits and 
life of the " Sertao " of Brazil ; the second, a kind of lyric 
style ; and, lastly, a style which the writer calls realistic. 
Among other works of his are the " Garinipeiro," the 
" Slave Isaura," and the " Seminarista." The story of the 
latter is more or less this : A young boy is brought up in 



222 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



the companionship of a girl, who is god-child of his 
mother ; this girl is poor and lives on his father's lands. 
The boy, named Eugenic, afterward falls in love with this 
girl, named Margarida ; hat his parents have destined him 
to be a priest, and oblige him to enter the seminary in 
spite of his unwillingness; at last he consents to being 
ordained, believing that his loved Margarida had married 
another, and also giving way to the religious impulses of 
his nature. Afterward he is called to administer, as a 
priest, the last unction to a dying woman. He discovers 
this woman to be his Margarida, and that the cause of her 
languishing was love for him to whom she had remained 
faithful ; here he fights a great battle with his conscience, 
but finally falls ; the consequence is, he considers himself 
a base and eternally lost man. The next day, having to 
celebrate mass for the first time before going up to the 
altar, he is called to perform the last funeral rites over 
the body of a woman lying in the church ; this woman is 
Margarida. He performs the service, but afterward, as- 
cending the altar, instead of celebrating the mass, he be- 
fore the public begins to disrobe himself, tearing his 
clothes, and rushes out of the church a furious madman. 
The writer's object is to show the error of the Catholic 
Church in compelling her ministers to remain single ; 
also how many virtuous men become corrupted by enter- 
ing the ministry against their inclination. 

Joaquim Manoel de Macedo was born June 24, 1820, 
at the village of Itaborahy, and died April 11, 1882. He 
was a man of great talent, and his writings in prose and 
verse are numerous. He distinguished himself, however, 
specially as a novelist, and as the founder of the Brazilian 
novel ; abandoning the romantic style, he brings into his 
novels local color and the reality of the customs and 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



223 



habits of Brazilian society. In 1844, the time in which 
he published his " Moreninha,"- the Brazilian novel was 
yet to be founded, and Macedo was proclaimed its founder. 
In his "Moreninha" he painted society as it really was. 
And Rio then was gay, and not mournful, as the poets 
would have it ; it was full of faith, and not of distrustful- 
ness, like to-day. Everybody could see his picture in this 
book ; a universal acceptance of it followed as a natural 
consequence. Macedo graduated at the Faculty of Medi- 
cine of Rio de Janeiro ; but seeing his success on the pub- 
lication of the " Moreninha," he left his profession and 
gave himself up to the study of history, which was des- 
tined to furnish him elements for his historical novels, 
for his appointment as Professor of History in the College 
of Dom Pedro II, and for his admission into the Histori- 
cal Institute of Brazil in 1845. Many works followed 
one after another, such as "Mogo Loiro," published in 
1845, " Dons Ainores," in 1848, etc. From his success as 
a novelist Macedo tried his pen as a dramatist and was not 
less successful. He published two dramas in verse : " The 
Cego" ("The Blind Man") in 1849, and " Cobe" in 1852, 
two inspired productions, particularly the latter. His com- 
edy " Phantasma Branco," among many others, gained also 
the public applause. Macedo was now at the height of 
his literary fame; and here he began to write for the 
" Nagao," a journal of the Liberal party. "Whatever be 
the character of the political articles of Macedo, or any of 
his services in this field, the general opinion is that they 
are not worth the hundredth part of his purely literary 
works. Macedo' s character was not fit for politics ; as a 
proof, we have his " Yictimas-algozes," in which his in- 
tention was to awaken compassion for slavery, but which 
produced the opposite effect, that of hatred. He was a 



224 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



member of the Legislative Assembly of his province, was 
also deputy in the General Assembly, and declined to 
make part of the ministerial Cabinet of Angust 31, 1864 
He was also the author of a " History of Brazil," for the 
use of the College of Dom Pedro II, also of the " Bio- 
graphical Year," a work in four volumes. The style of 
his works of fiction is now rather out of date. His work, 
descriptive of Brazil, of which an imperfect English 
translation by Le Sage, entitled "Notions on the Chorog- 
raphy of Brazil," was published at Leipsic in 1873, is 
worthy of much commendation, particularly for its scope 
and purpose — there being generally a great lack of books 
of this character. It contains a summary of the history 
of Brazil, a description of its geography, resources, pro- 
ductions, and institutions, and a separate sketch of each 
province, and, although the student will often open it in 
vain for information which he desires, he will yet find in 
it enough to give it a value. Its great fault is that it 
abounds too much in glittering generalities. It is written 
in a flowing, poetic, and occasionally eloquent style, but 
is apt to deal in exaggeration when describing the natural 
resources of the country. The following about slavery 
gives a specimen of his metaphors : " In the country itself 
the complete extinction since 1852 of the criminal Afri- 
can slave-trade dried up the principal spring of an evil in 
every point of view more than shameless, and even fatal ; 
and on the 28th of September, 1871, the law which eman- 
cipated the offspring of women slaves closed forever the 
second source of the tophet of slavery, ennobled Brazil 
by taking from her the slur cast on her as the country of 
slavery, and causing every cradle to be rocked by the 
sacred breeze of liberty." 

He describes Antonio Carlos, one of the early public 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



225 



men of Sao Paulo, as one " whose eloquence might be 
compared to a cataract, and his enthusiasm to a volcano." 

The following is less extravagant than some of his 
descriptions : " The soil of Matto-Grosso is of wonderful 
fertility. . . . The sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, and man- 
dioc, the common cereals of the country, wheat, all escu- 
lents are so advantageously cultivated as to appear in- 
credible. . . . Is o one plants rice, which only requires to 
be plucked by those who require it. . . . Matto-Grosso is 
an abyss of riches, the revelation of which will be splen- 
did and dazzling in a future not far distant." 

It may be of interest to name some of the distin- 
guished orators of the pulpit. Rio de Janeiro is the birth- 
place of Souza Caldas, Francisco de Sao Carlos, Francisco 
Sampaio, and Francisco Jose de Carvalho, known as Frei 
Francisco de Monte- Alverne, a name given to him on en- 
tering the convent of Sao Antonio. Of these orators the 
greatest is Monte- Alverne, born in Bio, 1785. He en- 
tered the convent of Sao Antonio on June 28, 1801. On 
being sent to Sao Paulo, he was there ordained presbyter 
in 1808, preached in 1810, and was Professor of Arts in 
1813. Returning to Rio with a confirmed reputation, he 
was appointed royal preacher in 1816, in 1824 secretary 
of the province of Rio. He became then Professor of 
Philosophy in the Sao Jose seminary. He was tall, strong, 
and muscular ; would bend forward a little when walking, 
on account of his short-sightedness; his face was long, 
thin, pale, and severe ; his voice was strong, flexible, deep, 
and somewhat harsh, which in him was not a defect, but 
rather augmented its energy and gave it a metallic vibra- 
tion that would resound in the largest edifice. He spoke 
with emphasis, as one would who felt what he said, articu- 
lating every syllable, so that not one was lost. His ser- 



226 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Hions are printed in three volumes, and are noted for tlieir 
eloquence, tlieir doctrine, elevation of thoughts, and sub- 
lime pictures. An eye-witness says that, on the occasion 
of the funeral of the first Empress of Brazil, Dona Leopol- 
dina, when that tremendous voice of the orator was heard 
to pronounce, u God crushes against the walls of the 
tomb all these giants of earth ! " the widower Emperor 
bent down his head and carried his hand to his eyes, and 
the courtiers present all looked up to the orator, astounded 
at his boldness. Twenty years before his death he w r as 
stricken with blindness, but even after this misfortune his 
sermons excited the admiration of those who had not 
heard him in his better days. He died on December 3, 
1858, in Sao Domingo. His body was brought from Sao 
Domingo to Rio de Janerio in the imperial yacht, and 
transported from the shore to the convent of Sao Antonio 
in the court carriages, his funeral being at the expense of 
the Emperor. Monte- Alverne was also a poet ; much of 
his sacred poetry is sung in the Protestant churches in the 
empire, and consists of beautiful verses. 

Another clerical orator, who was also a poet, is Padre 
Antonio Pereira de Souza Caldas, born in Brazil, educated 
in Portugal, and receiving in Italy the finishing touches 
of his education. He is noted for his eloquence, for his 
original lyric poetry, but especially for his translation of 
the Psalms of David in Portuguese verse. For instance, 
the first psalm — 

" Yenturoso o que nao vaga 
Pela estrada criminosa 
Da impiedade, e a voz dolosa 
Do malvado que extravaga, 
Com sorriso, nao affaga, 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



227 



Nem do vicio corrupter 
Na cadina pestilente 
Se assenton com cego ardor ; 
Antes posta sempre a mente * 
Traz na lei do Creador " — 

of which there can be no better translation in English 
than that of the English Bible. 

Among the names of distinguished journalists in Brazil 
may be mentioned the following, together with the papers 
for which they wrote : In the time of the Independence 
there iigured as editors and writers to the " Reverbero " 
the following: Januario da Ounha Barboza, Francisco 
Ledo, and Capitao Mor Justiniano Jose da Rocha. 

In 1831, Evaristo da Veiga, editor of the "Aurora 
Fluminense," caused a great sensation. 

Later on, about 1856, there appeared the "Correio 
Mercantil," in which the principal writers were Francisco 
Octaviano de Almeida Rosa, Yisconde do Rio Branco, and 
Jose Martiniano de Alencar. Of these three, Octaviano 
is still living and a senator. Later on appeared the " Re- 
format ' of which Tavares Bastos was editor. And 
prominent among the journalists of the present time is 
Quintino Bocayuva, editor of the " Paiz," who was also 
editor of the " Globo " and the " Republica." 

As historians, may be named Joaquin Manoel de 
Macedo, already noticed ; Francisco Adolpho Varnhagem, 
known as Viscount of Porto Seguro, who wrote a history 
of Brazil and a defense of Amerigo Yespucci as the dis- 
coverer of America, a work well known to students of the 
voyages of the early navigators of the era of Columbus ; 
and Innocencio F. da Silva, who wrote a "Diccionario 
Bibliographico. ? 5 



228 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 

Brazil has produced many poets, and some who are 
worthily popular in their country. Of these, the one who 
probably should be first mentioned, and who wrote at a 
time Yvhen Brazilian literature was scarcely distinct from 
that of the mother-country — Portugal — is Frei Jose de S. 
Rita Durao, author of the epic poem " Caramuru." He 
was born in the province of Minas-Geraes at a place called 
Catta-preta, in the district of K". Senhora de Nazareth do 
Inf eccionado, about sixteen miles to the north of Mariana. 
The date is uncertain, somewhere between 1718 and 1720. 
He died in the College of Sao Agostinho, in Lisbon, Jan- 
uary 24, 1784. He was a member of the order of Agus- 
tinho, and doctor in theology by the University of Coim- 
bra. He entered the order of Agustinho on October 12, 
1738, and graduated in the year 1756. His education 
began in Brazil under the Jesuits, who then had founded 
good schools, and where J ose Basilio da Gama also was 
instructed. It is not known who were his parents, nor at 
what time he went to Europe. In 1758, shortly after he j 
graduated, he was in Leiria, where he preached a beauti- 
ful sermon of thanksgiving, on account of the King, Dom 
Jose, having escaped from the shots fired at him on Sep- 
tember 3d of the same year. He did not stay there long ; 
leaving Portugal, he traversed Spain and Italy, spending 
about eighteen years on these travels. A Brazilian his- j 
torian says that the cause of his leaving Portugal was his | 
refuting certain letters of the Bishop of Leiria written 
against the Jesuits when their expulsion was decreed in 
Portugal. He was obliged to flee to Spain on this ac- 
count. In Spain he was imprisoned on suspicion of being ■? 
a spy, when the war of the family pact broke out there ; 
feeing afterward set free in 1763, he went to Italy. In j 
1778 he was again in Portugal, when he became lecturer 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



229 



at the University of Coimbra. After his return to Port- 
ugal he only lived about six years, in which he finished 
his poem, which was published in 1781. Its story is the 
discovery of Bahia, in the middle of the sixteenth century, 
by Diogo Alvares Corria, whom the Indians named " Ca- 
rainuru," from his use of fire-arms ; it comprehends in 
several episodes the history of Brazil, the rites and tradi- 
tions of its natives, and the politics of the colonies. The 
argument is as follows : Diogo Alvares Corria suffered 
shipwreck near Bahia. He was saved with his six com- 
panions, who were devoured by the Indians, he alone 
being spared, because thin and ill, the savages intending 
to keep him until he should get better. They allowed 
him, in the mean while, to withdraw from the wreck pow- 
der, shot, and guns. Having killed a bird flying, in their 
presence, the savages pronounced him the sun of thun- 
der, and Caramuru — that is, dragon of the sea. Fighting 
against the natives of the interior, he brought them 
into subjection. The chiefs of Brazil offered him their 
daughters as wives, but he chose Paraguagti, whom he 
afterward took to France in a French ship, five other 
Brazilian women following him swimming, until one was 
drowned and the others returned. In France Paraguagu 
was baptized as Catharine. Having returned with Para- 
guagu to Bahia, he was received by the Tupinambas, who 
considered Paraguagu as the heiress of their chief. On 
the voyage to Bahia the latter has a vision, in which is 
revealed to her the future lot of Brazil. About this time 
Thome de Sousa arrives with some ships and families to 
people Bahia, whose colonization begins. Paraguagu, 
or Catharine Alvares, renounces her rights in favor of 
Dom Joao III, who ordered his governors to honor 

Diogo Alvares for the services he had rendered, and 
20 



\ 



230 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

she was in fact the source of the noble house of Torre in 
Bahia. 

The passage most generally quoted as the best is the 
episode of Moema, and of which the following is a trans- 
lation : 

" She loses the brilliancy of her eyes, faints, and shud- 
ders, with pale, dying aspect ; her hands, already deprived 
of strength, letting go of the rudder, she sinks to the bot- 
tom of the foaming waves; but, again rising from the 
depths of the angry sea, she utters with pain, 6 O cruel 
Diogo ! 5 and was buried in the waters, to be seen no 
more ! " 

One of the best known of Brazilian poets is Antonio 
Gongalves Dias, who was born August 10, 1823, at the 
town of Oaxias, Maranhao. His father, who was a Portu- 
guese, on his return from Portugal, whence he had fled 
on account of the war, put his boy into mercantile em- 
ployment, but at the instance of some friends, who saw in 
him an inclination for letters, he was placed under Ri- 
cardo Joao Sabino, who taught him the rudiments of 
Latin and French. Having acquired the necessary foun- 
dation for higher studies, he set out with his father for Sao 
Luiz, capital of the province, and thence to Portugal, on 
account of his father's health. Having lost his father, 
however, he returned to Maranhao. His step-mother hav- I 
ing afforded him the means to continue his studies, he re- 
turned to Portugal May 13, 1838, where he studied in the 
University of Coimbra. On account of a civil war which 
broke out in Maranhao, known by the name of " Bolai- 
ada," his step-mother suffered losses, and suspended his 
monthly allowance ; at this misfortune he intended to re- 1 
turn to Brazil, and would have done so, but for the kind- j 
ness of his Brazilian college companions, who furnished 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



231 



hiin the necessary means to continue. Gougalves Dias, 
speaking of this time, says : " Sad was my life in Coim- 
bra ; it is a sad thing to live away from our native coun- 
try, live in a stranger's house, and sit at a strange table as 
a favor ! This table belonged to good and faithful friends, 
that is true ! The bread was another's, it was the bread 
of charity, it was the lot of the mendicant ! " Having 
succeeded at last in taking his degree as Bachelor in Ju- 
ridical Sciences, he returned to Caxias in 1845, and there 
began the profession of advocate ; but soon went to Rio, 
and in 1846 published his "Primeiros Cantos," which 
gained him much honor. He became instructor of Latin 
at a lyceum in Nictheroy. In 1847 he published his best 
drama, entitled "Leonor de Mendonga," and in the fol- 
lowing year the " Sextilhas de Frei Antao." He became 
distinguished, and was appointed professor of Latin in 
the College of Dom Pedro II. In 1851 the Imperial Gov- 
ernment detailed him to study and report on the state of 
public instruction in various northern provinces, and the 
best means of bettering its condition. On his return from 
the north (1852) he was appointed secretary in the Office 
of Foreign Affairs, and the same year married Dona Olym- 
pia da Costa. In 1855 he set out for Europe, employed by 
the Government, in order to study the best methods and 
the ones most applicable for Brazil in respect of public 
instruction. Beginning with Portugal, where he visited 
the cities of Lisbon, Oporto, Coimbra, and Evora, he trav- 
eled successively through France, England, and Germany, 
examining different establishments of education. In 1857 
he printed his dictionary of the Tupy language, called 
the general tongue of the native Indians of Brazil; also 
the first four cantos of his celebrated " Tymbiras." On 
his return to Kio he was again sent out on a scientific 



232 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



commission to explore and report on the resources of Bra- 
zil, and spent six months in the Amazon Yalley, when his 
health broke down, and he returned to Eio. Deriving no 
benefit from his stay in Eio, he embarked for Europe, 
but still with no better result, until at last he resolved to 
return to his native land, making a long sea-voyage, from 
which he hoped to derive some benefit. He embarked 
September 14, 1864, on the ship Yille de Boulogne, bound 
for Maranhao, but he never again arrived on land ; the 
ship was wrecked, and it is supposed that the crew, seeing 
him so ill, abandoned him, and left him to die on Novem- 
ber 3, 1864. His chief works are the "Cantos," the 
" Tymbiras," and " Y-Juca-Pirama " — two poems on abo- 
riginal subjects, both published in Leipsic. The first of 
the two is incomplete. Gongalves Dias is, in the opinion 
of many, the best Brazilian lyric poet. The following 
are the first and last verses of one of his most popular 
poems : 

" In my country there are palm-trees 
Where sings the sabia ; 
The birds which warble here 
Are not like those afar. 

... 9 

" God forbid that I may die, 

Before returning to my land ; 
Before I enjoy those scenes 

"Which here I can not find ; 
Without seeing again those palm-trees 

Where sings the sabia ! " 

A beautiful epic poem of his is his " Tymbiras," of 
which there are only four cantos, the rest being lost with 
him in the shipwreck. The hero of the poem is the chief 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



233 



of the Indians Tynibiras, Itajuba ; the scenes are placed 
in Maranhao, at the time of the colonization. In the four 
cantos existing only the Indians are spoken of, the civil- 
ized man taking no part in them. One of the notable 
episodes is that of Coema ; 

" ' Flower of beauty, light of love, Coema,' murmured 
the singer, ' where wentest thou, so sweet and beautiful, 
when the sun was rising ? Coema, what love thou hast 
left in us ! Thou wast so meek, thy smile so soft, so se- 
rene thine eyes ! Thine accents a beautiful singing, thy 
voice sweet warbles, thy words honey ! If the break of 
day would compare its enchantments with thine, it would 
really try in Tain ! 5 " 

Another poet of earlier date was Domingos Jose Gon- 
galves Magalhaes, who was born at Kio de Janeiro, Au- 
gust 13, 1811. His writings are much admired for their 
simplicity and their elevated moral tone. His chief work 
is the " Confederagao dos Tamoyos," a poem rich in in- 
spirations, patriotism, and enthusiasm. He may be said 
to be the founder of the national theatre, being the first 
Brazilian to write a tragedy, and one whose subject con- 
cerns his native country. This tragedy was "Antonio 
Jose," or the "Poeta e a Inquisigao." His name is to 
be seen among the founders of the Historical and Geo- 
graphical Institute of Brazil, in which he published an 
historical memoir of high merit. The scene of " Con- 
federate dos Tamoyos" lies at Rio de Janeiro, in the 
first times of Brazilian colonization : Three Portuguese 
attack an Indian girl and kill her brother who comes to 
her rescue, but at the same time they fall under the 
blows of this dying chief. Next the Tamoyos, to which 
tribe the Indian belonged, determine to take vengeance 
on the Portuguese. They hold a council of war, and then 



234 BRAZIL: ITS CONIXETIOff AND PROSPECTS. 



march against the new village of Sao Yicente ; the battle 
is described, then peace is made, marriages are celebrated, 
Indians are converted, and so on. The poem is divided 
into ten cantos and is in blank verse. I will quote a 
passage where Aimbrie, the chief of the Tamoyos, comes 
upon Pindobucu as he is burying his son Comorim, killed 
by the three Portuguese, and asks him when he is going 
to avenge his son, and, on being asked if he knew where 
the enemies lived, he says : 

"Where are they? thou inquirest. Knowest not 
where are the ferocious Portuguese who rob us of our 
sons and women, and kill our parents, brothers, and 
friends ? Thou knowest not where these ungrateful be- 
ings are, who take possession of our lands and persecute 
us, hunting us down and making us slaves ? . . 

Another esteemed poet of Brazil is Casimiro Jose, 
Marques de Abreu, born at the village of Barra de Sao 
Joao, province of Rio de Janeiro, January 4, 1837. His 
father was Portuguese, his mother Brazilian. At nine 
years of age he was sent to Freese, a school in ISTova- 
Friburgo. Before finishing his preparatory studies he 
returned to Bio to his father's business office ; but show- 
ing no inclination for business, he was sent to Lisbon, 
November 13, 1853, and stayed in Portugal nearly four 
years. There he published in literary papers some of his 
verses which were much applauded, also a drama entitled 
" Camoes e o Jao." Family interests, together with persua- 
sions and orders from his father, caused his return to Bio, 
January 11, 1857. He died at his father's home in In- 
dayassu, October 18, 1860. The Bio edition of his works 
contains, in all, seventy lyric pieces of different metres, 
and which in his preface he says are " flowers which the 
wind will scatter to-morrow, only serving as the promises 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



235 



of the fruits of autumn." The following is the last verse 
of his song, " My Country " : 

" It is full of beauties, so full 
My native country is, 
Even a poet dreams not of them ; 
'Not can a mortal sing them. 
It is a land of love 
Scattered over with flowers, 
Where the breeze in its murmurs 
Whispers, ' It has no rival.' " 

Antonio Castro Alves was born March 14, 1847, at 
the farm of Cabaceiras, near Carralinho, in the district 
of Cachoeira, province of Bahia ; his father was Dr. A. 
J. Alves, professor in the faculty of medicine of Bahia, 
and his mother, Dona Clelia B. da Sa. Castro. In the 
beginning of 1870 he collected his scattered verses and 
published them under the title of " Espumas Fluctuantes " 
(" Floating Foam It was not long before he fell a victim 
to pulmonary consumption, which carried him to his grave 
July 6, 1871. He left many manuscripts which have been 
published: "Gonzaga," a drama in four acts; the "Ca- 
choeira de Paulo- Affonso " ; a fragment of the poem " Os 
Escravos," which is incomplete ; and others which are still 
unpublished. His best work is doubtless the " Cachoeira 
de Paulo- Affonso," composed of many short pieces of dif- 
ferent metres, and of which the following is an extract : 

u I sinned ! . . . Great was my crime, but greater still 
is my punishment. . . . Ah ! the bitterness of the nights 
without shelter was not sufficient ; all that I suffered from 
the whip and the torture which lacerated my flesh did 
not suffice. More pains were necessary, still a greater 



236 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



sacrifice. . . . Son ! thou seest my torture. ... I am to 
be separated from thee ! . . ." 

A poet of considerable merit, but of whom no biog- 
raphy is to be found, was Fagundes Varella. He died a 
few years ago, and is the author of " Auchieta," a poem 
in blank verse ; the " Diario de Lazaro " ; " Vozes d' Ame- 
rica," a collection of verses ; and " Cantos Meridionaes." 
Among his writings should be mentioned with special 
notice his " Cantico do Calvario," a poem in blank verse, 
written on the occasion of the death of a son. 

Among the poetical writers who are yet living are 
Alberto de Oliveira, author of the " Meridionaes," a col- 
lection of poems, of which the best are thought to be 
" Labor das Lagrimas" and the "Leque"; Eaymundo 
Correa, author of the " Symphonias," and of which the best 
are " Plena Nudez," " Sanctas Esmolas," and " As Pom- 
bas " ; Yalentim Magalhaes, author of a poem, " Colombo 
e Nene," a work of some literary value ; Luiz Guimaraes, 
Jr., author of the " Sonetos e Rimas," "Nocturnas," 
" Curvas e Zigzags," etc. ; and, lastly, Machado de Assis, 
a poet also, but known especially as a writer of short 
stories. He has written several books of stories and 
verses in a style very peculiar to himself. Of his books 
of stories may be mentioned one entitled " Historias sem 
Datas," and as one of the best stories, " Miss Dollar." 

The periodical literature of Brazil comprises now only 
about two reviews, the principal one of which is the quar- 
m terly review published by the Historical, Geographical, 
and Ethnological Institute of Brazil — " Bevista Trimen- 
sal do Institute Historico Geographico e Ethnographico 
do Brazil," published at Rio, and of which the last number, 
comprising parts one and two, 1884, is forty-seven. It is 
a large, well-printed octavo volume of over eight hundred 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



237 



pages, and is filled principally with, historical documents. 
The " Law Review," also published at Rio, monthly, en- 
titled " O Direito Revista Mensal de Legislagao, Doutrina 
e Jurisprudencia," is filled principally with juridical de- 
cisions and opinions. The latest number is over a year 
behind. A literary review had an existence of about three 
years, and ceased a few years ago. 

The daily newspaper press is fairly represented. In 
Rio Janeiro the principal newspaper is the " Jornal do 
Commercio," established in 1827, daily circulation now 
twenty thousand, is printed on a modern French press, 
on roll paper, at the rate of ten thousand an hour. It 
goes to press from 3 to 4 a. m. Four thousand copies of 
this paper leave Rio every morning for the province of 
Sao Paulo. The "Gazeta de Noticias," established in 
1876, is printed on a similar press as the last named, and 
goes to press from 2 to 3 a. m. The " Paiz," established 
in 1884, goes to press at midnight. These probably have 
each a smaller circulation than the "Jornal do Com- 
mercio." There is one small evening paper, " Gazeta a 
Tarde," its specialty being the cause of the abolition of 
slavery. 

The press enjoys the greatest liberty. Public meas- 
ures and public men are discussed with entire freedom, 
but without much personal abuse. The highest officers 
of the Government are caricatured in illustrated papers 
with as much latitude as in the United States. As com- 
pared with English and American journals, the Brazilian 
press would seem very unenterprising in respect to news. 
But political and social questions are often treated in an 
eloquent manner. The " Jornal " publishes in full all 
the debates of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, and 
all those of the Provincial Legislature and of the Muni- 



238 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



cipal Chamber, so that there are but few weeks in the 
year that the reader is not first greeted every morning, 
on taking up the great barn-door sheet, with a couple of 
broadsides, more or less, of speeches. An important 
source of income of the journal in question is the publi- 
cation of anonymous communications on nearly any sub- 
ject, public or personal, for pay. Anybody can bring his 
views before the public in this way, by paying for the 
publication of his article. 

As a rule, all the newspapers publish novels zsfeuille- 
tons at the bottom part by daily short chapters. The cir- 
culation appears to be, in a very great degree, through 
the newsboys. The Brazilian " Punch," or paper of hu- 
mor, is an eight-paged illustrated periodical of quarto 
size, entitled " Re vista Illustrada," published at Rio, and 
now in its ninth year of publication. Perhaps a good 
sample number would be that issued about the time of 
the crisis in the Dantas ministry, on account of the slav- 
ery question. On the first page is a striking illustration 
entitled " A Medical Conference." Brazil, personified 
as an Indian maiden, lies sick, bolstered up in bed, and 
covered with the bedclothes nearly to her bosom, which, 
like her arms, is bare. On one side, near the head of the 
couch, sits the Emperor in a deeply meditative mood, 
his legs crossed, and his chin resting in his left hand. 
On the opposite side of the couch is a group of Brazilian 
statesmen, readily distinguishable by their portraits, in the 
center of which is Senator Dantas, the prime minister, 
holding in his right hand a bottle of medicine labeled 
with his project of emancipation. On his right are rep- 
resented Senators Affonso Celso and Christiano Ottoni, 
and on his left Senators Sinimbu, Martinho Campos, Co- 
tigipe, Paulino, and Joao Alfredo. The chief medical 



BRAZILIAN LITERATURE. 



239 



officer (Senator Dantas) : " We all agree that the patient 
suffers from acute abolition. Well, I think that with this 
remedy of mine she will soon recover. If my colleagues 
of the Senate think otherwise, let them express their 
opinions, and we will discuss what are the best means 
of saving the country. If any one has a more effective 
remedy, let him present it. 55 Affonso Celso (aside) : " You 
will not catch us ! That is our secret." Christiano Ot- 
toni : " What they want is to take charge of the patient 
without responsibility. What fine doctors ! " " And what 
will the nurse " (the Emperor) " of the patient say % " 

Another illustration represents the figure of a female 
lying under a tree in the desert, with this text : " All who 
have seen the 6 Africana ' of Meyerbeer know how Selika 
died. Poor thing ! " 

This is followed by an illustration of an Indian female 
lying under a big tree ; the carriage of a minister of state 
passing near ; and below, this text : " Brazil, sleeping un- 
der the shade of the mortifera mancenilha, runs equally 
great risk. Numerous governments passed indifferent dur- 
ing long years." 

The whole of the last page is devoted to the " Car- 
riage of State conducted by the Conservatives." A figure 
representing the Emperor sits bareheaded on the back 
seat, reading a book ; opposite, facing him, sits Brazil, 
still personified as an Indian maiden. On the top is a 
slave family. The driver's seat is occupied by the chief 
of the Conservative party, Baron Cotigipe, whose team is 
a big turtle and a crab ; the reins which he holds are fast- 
ened to the turtle's mouth, and he is bending forward to 
apply the lash. A prominent Conservative senator is rid- 
ing the crab, which is turning off at right angles from 
the turtle. Senator Teixeira is pushing at one of the 



240 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



wheels. A yoke of oxen are hitched behind, with heads 
toward the carriage, to prevent it from going too fast ; 
and ? to retard the motion still more. Senator Junqueira is 
represented as pulling back on the hind wheel ; while Sen- 
ator Paulino, facing to the rear, appears to be holding 
back strongly by means of the oxen's tails, the ends of 
which he holds firmly over his shoulder. Senator Correia 
is standing up behind the carriage, making a speech. 



CHAPTEE XV. 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 

Brazil is pre-eminently an agricultural country, yet 
its agriculture differs from that of the United States and 
Europe as much in its methods as in its products. The 
surface of the land is so abruptly broken that it does not 
generally admit of the use of the plow and the more 
modern implements, and yet there are important areas 
where these implements could be used to advantage, and 
there is some increase in their introduction. As a rule, 
the hoe is the main implement for field-culture. As the 
soil in Brazil, especially in the coffee regions, is a firm, 
red clay, mixed with gravel, the hoe necessarily is about 
twice as heavy and large as the field-hoe in common use 
in the United States. It often takes the place of a grub- 
hoe. I have seen a platoon of hands in one rank moving 
over a field of low bushes, which they were leveling with 
the hoe and apparently breaking the soil at the same time. 
The cheapest ones, say those of iron, and weighing two 
and a half pounds, range in price from three dollars and 
eighty-nine cents per dozen upward. They are imported 
in barrels of ten dozen in a barrel, principally from Eng- 
land, and six hundred thousand hoes are imported and 
disposed of at Eio annually. The upper half of the hoe 
21 



242 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



is generally painted in green or some otlier fancy color, 
and I have seen samples at coffee exhibitions that were 
even gilded. Another implement in considerable use is a 
sort of knife about as long and heavy as a cleaver, curved 
at the end, fastened to a long wooden handle, and in 
planting is used both to open the soil and cover the seed. 

A Portuguese, who at the latter part of the last cent- 
ury wrote on the agriculture of Brazil, represented that 
the Indians in planting corn used a stick, the end of 
which had been burned and sharp pointed, to open the 
ground for the seed and to cover it. He shows that the 
destruction of the timber in order to plant was the same 
then as now, that the system of the white people was 
scarcely better than that of the natives, and he eloquently 
laments such waste of timber, as well as the lack on the 
part of the settlers of the use of the plow. Probably less 
than two thousand plows, and all imported, are sold at Rio 
in the course of a year. A good breaking-plow retails at 
from twenty to thirty dollars, and a common plow, such 
as would be used with one yoke of oxen, at ten to twelve 
dollars each. The latter sort of plow appears to have the 
preference, as one yoke of oxen is the most convenient 
team for its use. The Government discriminates in favor 
of agricultural implements, and the transportation of 
them on Government railroads is cheap. 

Coffee is the leading crop, and, though grown princi- 
pally in the three large provinces near Rio, is raised suc- 
cessfully in every province except perhaps the two most 
southerly ones. Its production is increasing very consid- 
erably, especially in the province of Sao Paulo, in the 
vicinity of new lines of railway and newly opened lines 
of river navigation. Take the whole country together, 
and the coffee- crop is destined to have a greatly increased 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 243 



development. Sugar-cane, cotton, maize, tobacco, and up- 
land rice are readily grown in every province. While 
many of the coffee-plantations are kept very clean and 
have a beautiful appearance, both from their great extent 
and the mingled colors of the soil and plant, yet ordi- 
narily agriculture presents a shiftless appearance. The 
smaller crops, like maize, are planted on patches from 
which bushes or timber have been recently about half cut 
and half burned off, and the soil of which has never felt 
the plow. The coffee tree or bush varies from eight to 
twelve feet in height, according to age and richness of 
soil, and is one of the most beautiful of productive plants. 
Its stem is two to three inches in diameter, and of a drab 
color. Its foliage is abundant, and of a rich dark-green 
color, the leaves being enameled on the upper side, pos- 
sessing a graceful, tapering form, about five inches in 
length and two inches in width at the widest part. Its 
abundant blossoms are of a delicate white color, and a 
single one resembles in shape and size a separate lilac- 
flower. 

The berry grows on slender branches with scarcely 
any more stem than that of an acorn, and, when ready 
for gathering, has a brownish-red color. Picture to your- 
self plump, fully ripe, and finely colored cranberries or 
cherries strung upon long twigs amid the foliage I have 
mentioned, and you mil have a fair idea of how a coffee- 
tree looks when its fruit is ready to pick. At this time 
the berry, on being held between the thumb and finger, is 
firm to the touch. On cutting it open, the skin appears 
tougher than the toughest grape-skin. A rather thin 
coating of juicy, sweet, and not unpleasant pulp is found 
to surround the two coffee-beans within, and which are 
inclosed each in its separate husk or shell. As a single 



24:4 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



tree will sometimes have a bushel or two of such fruit, 
one can imagine that thousands of them together will 
present a handsome appearance ; all the more beautiful, 
indeed, from the thought that their product constitutes 
one of man's chief luxuries. 

Coffee is principally grown by slave labor on large 
plantations, situated on sides of high hills and even upon 
mountains, often quite steep ; such land being preferred 
because it is richer, and because, being elevated, it is safer 
from frost. In recent years the total yield has reached 
the immense quantity of about six million bags, or say 
fully seven hundred million pounds each year, being 
sufficient to supply each inhabitant of the United 
States with twelve pounds ! The actual export of coffee 
from Brazil to the United States has amounted in 
the latest years to about four hundred million pounds 
a year. 

I have lately seen most luxuriant coffee-plantations on 
purple clay soil of great depth, which, without manuring, 
has constantly produced either sugar-cane or coffee for 
forty years, and which seems inexhaustible. For land of 
that quality yet in an unimproved and wild condition, and 
situated near a railroad, and upward of a hundred miles 
from a seaport, seventy dollars an acre would be asked. 
There are, however, wild tracts of similar coffee-land now 
covered with timber, situated a hundred miles or more 
from some of the present railway terminations in the 
province of Sao Paulo, which could be bought at about 
ten dollars an acre, but which, from the expense of trans- 
portation, are not now available for cultivation. ]STow 
would probably be a good time to settle on them and 
" grow up with the country," as, after the railroads reach 
them, they will be very desirable for plantations, provided 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 245 



always that the rates of transportation are not too ex- 
cessive. 

It does not pay to cultivate less than about twelve 
thousand trees, which would require thirty-six acres of 
land. A faithful man with a pair of mules and a plow 
could keep such a plantation clean, and could besides 
raise corn, rice, and beans enough for his household and 
animals. It is usual to raise these other crops between 
the rows of coffee-trees till the latter are in bearing condi- 
tion. The coffee-tree sometimes begins to yield at the 
age of three years. It flowers in August and September 
(a second flowering in November and December, and 
sometimes a third one in January, also have some yield), 
and developing slowly ripens in April and May, and be- 
gins to come to the market in June. A crop year, there- 
fore, dates from the 1st of July in each year and lasts 
until June 30th of the next year. It is gathered by strip- 
ping it by hand from the branches, and often with haste 
and carelessness, taking the leaves with it. While some 
gather it into baskets hung around their necks, others 
simply let it fall upon the ground, a practice very differ- 
ent from the system in Java, where the coffee-berries are 
carefully picked one by one and deposited in a dish or 
basket. There, under Dutch administration, one family 
will cultivate five hundred trees, while in Brazil a single 
hand in the province of Rio de Janeiro cultivates from 
three to seven thousand trees. Besides, in Brazil a great 
deal of coffee is picked before it is ripe. It is also in- 
jured sometimes by being left too long a time on the 
ground after it has been picked. 

The average yield per year in the province of Bio de 
Janeiro is three fourths of a pound per tree ; in the prov- 
ince of Minas-Geraes a little more ; in the province of Sao 



24:6 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Paulo a pound and a half per tree, while in the vicinity 
of Campinas, a very fertile coffee - producing region in 
the same province, the average yield is almost two pounds 
per tree, or say fourteen and a half hags of one hundred 
and thirty-two pounds each per one thousand trees. 

The coffee-tree is very sensitive. The injuries it is 
liable to are from frost, hail, excessive sunshine, which 
shrivels the fruit when green and tender; depredations 
by a small butterfly, which deposits its eggs on the leaves ; 
but most of all an ant, which is half an inch in length, 
and which undermines the tree. The larger plantations 
annually expend a thousand dollars and upward, each, for 
bisulphide of carbon to destroy these ants. Usually coffee 
is hulled or thrashed — mechanically — after it is ripe and 
dry. The machinery for cleaning coffee and putting it in 
its most attractive condition for the market is expensive, 
and on the large plantations, which are occasionally found 
equipped with enterprise, sometimes costs from fifteen 
to thirty thousand dollars ; and the machinery necessary 
for cleaning the crop of a small farm could hardly be pro- 
cured for less than three thousand dollars. Many immi- 
grant coffee-farmers are consequently obliged to send their 
coffee to market in a crude condition, and to submit to a 
heavy deduction in price on that account. In other lo- 
calities they can " go to mill " with their crude coffee, and 
get it hulled at about half a cent per pound. 

A great improvement in the process of hulling coffee 
has been introduced through the machinery invented and 
manufactured by Mr. "William Yan Vleck Lidgerwood, of 
Morristown, 1ST. J., who has devoted many years to the 
work, and achieved great success. His machinery is ac- 
knowledged in Brazil to have caused an important saving, 
not only of labor but of life. The title of commando- 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 247 



dor, conferred upon him by the Brazilian Government, 
was certainly a very slight recognition of the great service 
he has rendered to the industry of the country. From 
the plantation coffee is taken in coarse and often patched 
sacks, which bear the planter's name, and are afterward re- 
turned to him, on mules or in squeaking wooden- wheeled 
ox-carts to the nearest railway-station, whence it is carried 
by railway at very high rates of transportation to the sea- 
port. Arrived at the market, the first quantities say in 
June or July, it has before shipment to go through sev- 
eral hands, each taking a liberal profit : First, into the 
hands of the planter's agent, generally the creditor of the 
planter, and whom he charges from six to twelve per 
cent interest for loans. The agent sells the coffee to the 
" dealer," and charges the planter three per cent of the 
price for his services. The dealer manipulates the coffee, 
mixing different sorts together, and puts it into bags. 
He sells to the exporter through a broker, who receives 
fifty reis (at present about two cents) from the dealer, 
and a like amount from the exporter, on each bag. The 
broker's charge has by law been reduced to one fifth per 
cent of the value of the coffee, but as yet the regulation 
is not complied with. Besides these several charges, there 
are heavy expenses for cartage. After the coffee arrives 
at Rio, it is conveyed from the railway-station to the 
agent's store ; afterward to the dealer's store, and thence 
to the docks or place of shipment, being transported 
each time through narrow streets by mule-power, in some 
cases by tramway, and handled by costly labor. In all 
the various cartages from the time it leaves the plantation 
there is considerable wastage. 

Owing to the large production, and the medium qual- 
ity of the coffee, its price during the past two or three years 



24:8 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



has been unusually low, varying from six to twelve cents 
per pound. It had not been so cheap before since the year 
1857. It gradually rose after that year to be worth sev- 
enteen cents a pound for "good first" in 1864, then de- 
clined, and remained for several years at about eleven 
cents per pound, after which it rose to seventeen cents in 
1871-72, and to twenty-three cents in 1873-'74— a period 
when the crop was light. 

A firm in IsTew York, which had received from Rio 
some coffee which had been artificially colored, sent back 
word to the exporter : " Don't paint any more coffee ; we 
can paint better here." When the time comes that coffee 
shall be cultivated by intelligent labor, it will be twice as 
good as it now is. Thus, we all have an interest in the 
progress and improvement of Brazilian industry. 

Indian corn, or maize, is grown successfully in all parts 
of the country, and forms one of the principal crops. 
None, however, appears to be exported ; on the contrary, 
on account of the expense of bringing it from the interior, 
the principal seaports have been compelled to import some I 
of their supply from abroad. In recent years the impor- j 
tation from the River Plate to Rio has averaged about 
one hundred and fifteen thousand sacks per year, at say 
two dollars per sack. 

The Brazilian maize is generally the yellow sort, of 
medium-sized kernel, and is produced the most extensively j 
in the provinces of Minas-Geraes and Sao Paulo, both 
adjoining the province of Rio de Janeiro. It is planted I 
by hand in the months of September and October, and is 
usually hoed twice. A common way of doing on new | 
lands is to first cut the underbrush, burn it, and thereby 
kill the timber, and afterward, plant the ground with corn, 1 
the yield being about forty bushels to the acre. The 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 249 



next, or a second season afterward, a new piece of timber 
may be treated in the same way. Naturally there is some 
outcry against such a devastating system, but it avails lit- 
tle. However, a few farmers are beginning to manure 
the soil. A farm with good running water, and fair 
soil, may be surely remunerative in raising corn and 
hogs. 

The richest sugar-producing district of Brazil lies on 
the eastern border of the province of Pernambuco, where 
it has been under cultivation two hundred and fifty years. 
It is linked in history with hard-fought wars between the 
Portuguese settlers — who were finally conquerors of the 
country — and the natives, the French, and the Dutch, and 
still shows some traces of a quarter of a century of Dutch 
government, and especially of the administration of that 
able statesman, Prince Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch 
occupied an important part of Brazil, including Pernam- 
buco, thirty-seven years, from 1624 to 1661, and then, 
through the influence of England and France, were made 
to yield it up to Portugal. It would have been better for 
the rest of Brazil, probably, if so thrifty a nationality had 
remained as a near neighbor. 

The cultivation of cane by the American colony in 
the province of Sao Paulo, three hundred miles southwest 
of Pio, is in this manner : new land is broken by the 
plow ; joints of cane are laid lengthwise in the furrow, 
either in January, February, or March, and covered. It 
requires thirteen months for the crop to mature. A sec- 
ond crop will spring up and mature from the root nearly 
as good as the first, and sometimes a third crop. Planted 
in January, it is generally a foot or two out of the ground 
in May. A field of cane should be kept free from weeds, 
and needs to be hoed or worked with the cultivator four 



250 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



times. It is usually cut in May, June, and July. Where 
the plow is used, farmers cultivate six or seven acres to the 
hand, and subsistence crops — corn, beans, etc. — enough to 
sustain the farm. Mules are used in plowing, and oxen 
invariably with carts for transportation. Labor, and very 
unreliable, costs forty cents per day for about ten hours' 
work, by one hand, or about ten dollars a month, food in- 
cluded. Much of the cane is used for making spirits, and 
the necessary outfit with machinery for profitably cultivat- 
ing fifty acres of cane continuously will cost about twelve 
thousand dollars. Some of the accidents the cane-crop is 
liable to are, frost when it is tender, and fire when it is 
ripe. Medium land, with some light timber, in the vicin- 
ity of the American colony, can be bought at three dollars 
an acre. There are plantations in the far interior which 
have come down intact through several generations, and 
which, although embracing an area of fifty or more square 
miles, produce only meager surplus products. A little 
maize, sugar, and rum will be about all there will be to 
sell. Such of the cane- juice as can not be conveniently 
made into sugar will be put into a vat, and, after ferment- 
ing, will be distilled into rum ; and this frequently forms 
the most remunerative part of the crop. Often as any 
way it will be carried to market, thirty miles or more, in 
small dug-out kegs, slung over the backs of mules. On 
these plantations the plow has never yet been seen. 

"What are called the central sugar-mills have small iron 
railways extending five or six miles in dilferent directions 
over the cane-growing land, and they pay two dollars and 
a half to three dollars per ton of cane delivered on the 
cars. The industry is remunerative. There are so#ie 
splendid sugar estates in the vicinity of the city of Campos, 
province of Bio de Janeiro. Brazil's export of sugar 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 251 



averages about five hundred million pounds a year, of the 
value of fourteen million dollars. 

The poetry of hay-making under the Southern Cross 
will have to wait till some future age, perhaps till Nature in 
her throes has elevated the Amazon plains. In a country 
where there is grazing the year round, hay can not be ex- 
pected to figure largely as a crop. Still, there is a demand 
for it in the cities, and the supply called alfalfa comes 
from the Eiver Plate. American sailing-vessels some- 
times bring cargoes of it in bales from that region to Kio, 
where it is worth thirty dollars and upward a ton ; but its 
fiber is coarse and it is inferior to good timothy. Some 
forty thousand bales of hay are annually imported at 
Kio from the Kiver Plate, and occasionally a few bales 
come from Lisbon. The kinds of grass which flourish 
naturally in Brazil are the creeping ginger-grass, the most 
common for cattle, called in Portuguese ca/pim gengibre 
rasieiro, and the botanical name of which is Paspalium 
pastorm ; and the honey-grass, called capim melado, 
and the botanical name of which is Melnis glutinosa. 
The latter springs np spontaneously after land has been 
cleared of timber. It is quite fragrant, a little sticky 
when handled, and good in fattening cattle, but rather 
weakening for working animals. When fully grown, say 
in June, it is nearly two feet high, and has a reddish top 
like the American red-top grass ; patches and sides of hills 
and mountains covered with it in June have a red appear- 
ance. There is also a garden grass used for lawns and 
borders, which has a wide but tender blade. 

Cotton is another leading crop of Brazil, and may be 
grown in every province. The annual export amounts to 
some thirty million pounds, of the value of two million 
dollars. The cotton-growing districts have fewer marks 



252 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



of wealth than are found in the sugar districts. In grow- 
ing cotton, in the province of Sao Paulo, for example, it 
is usual to begin in July or August to clear the land and 
burn the brush ; then, after a rain, to plow — if in a locality 
where the plow is used — or break the land with the hoe. 
In September or October manure is sometimes scattered 
in furrows four or five feet apart ; afterward the furrow 
is reopened by the plow and the seeds are dropped in it 
by hand and covered very lightly with the plow or harrow. 
The cotton comes up in about a week, and two or three 
weeks afterward is plowed and hoed, and thence on is 
plowed and hoed every two or three weeks until the latter 
part of January, in which month it is generally in blos- 
som. The picking commences about March, and the 
whole field is picked over once in fifteen or twenty days, 
until the crop is wholly gathered, which may be in June 
or July. It is common to plant from ten to twelve 
acres to the hand, in addition to enough small crops for 
the home subsistence. At picking-time the working 
force is frequently doubled, and the price of labor is 
twelve to fifteen cents for picking thirty-three pounds. 
The cotton is put up in bales of one hundred and thirty- 
two pounds, and the average yield is two and a half bales 
per acre. The gross return per acre is about thirty-two 
dollars. The cotton-plant is liable to damages from ants 
and caterpillars. The latter are killed with Paris-green, 
which, however, itself injures the plant very much. At- 
tacks by the ants have to be watched and guarded against 
from the time the plant is up till it is fully grown. The 
common way of destroying them is by pouring bisul- 
phide of carbon into their nests. Cotton is sometimes cut 
and the old root left to sprout and bear another crop, but 
the practice is not followed by the best farmers, as in- 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 253 



creased labor is required for cultivation, and it does not 
in any case yield more than an inferior crop. 

An important substitute for the potato, especially 
among people of African descent, is the mandioca, a vege- 
table indigenous to the country, and found cultivated by 
the natives on the arrival of the first Europeans. Like 
the potato, it grows beneath the soil, and is shaped some- 
what like a long sweet-potato, though more on the root 
order, and has a skin darker and thicker. The stalk is 
taller and stiffer than that of the common potato, and a 
field of it has a bluish-green color. Of the two sorts in 
use, one is cooked like the potato, but has a firmer and 
more nutty consistency and flavor. The other sort has a 
poisonous quality in its green state, but after a peculiar 
process of fermentation is made into a coarse meal, the 
farinha of Brazil, which is eaten commonly by labor- 
ers in its raw state, mixed with a fatty gravy, and by peo- 
ple in general after a brief cooking in butter. A dish of 
dry farinha is on every Brazilian table, and is eaten 
habitually mixed with stewed black beans. Some quan- 
tities of mandioca-meal have also been exported to Europe 
to be manufactured into tapioca. The value of the export 
amounts to some three hundred thousand dollars a year. 
About twenty million pounds of the meal are annually 
received at the port of Rio. 

Rice is cultivated all over the country, but principally 
as an upland crop. It is habitually used cooked in a little 
fat and with small bits of tomato. Not enough is raised 
for home consumption. Five million pounds of rice of 
domestic growth are annually received at Eio. Beans, 
and especially black beans, which form the common sub- 
sistence, are often grown as a separate crop, and are also 

frequently planted in the corn-hills at the last hoeing, and 
22 



254: BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPEOTS. 



mature in three months. Twenty-five million pounds of 
beans of domestic growth are received at Eio in the course 
of a year. 

Another of Brazil's important crops is tobacco, which 
is grown throughout the empire, though the principal 
tobacco-producing province is Bahia. Comparing the 
minute description given by Antonil at the beginning of 
the eighteenth century with the processes employed on j 
the great majority of the tobacco-plantations to-day, it | 
will be seen that little advance has been made. The an- 
nual export is fifty million pounds, of the value of from 
three to four million dollars. The export tax on tobacco 
in Bahia, national and provincial together, amounts to 
eighteen per cent. 

The organizations for the promotion of agriculture j 
are scarcely worth notice. There is no European coun- 
try, except Turkey, so behindhand in such matters. A 
thin agricultural monthly magazine is published at Eio, 
but it does not as yet impart much information on the 
subject of agriculture. 

The average wages of a free working-man at agricult- ] 
ural work, and in contracts for five months, are a milreis 
— thirty-six cents — a day, with board and lodging. At J 
such wages he is expected to do all the work of cultivat- j 
ing three thousand coffee-trees, and of gathering and tak- 
ing care of the crop ; or, what is equivalent, to cultivate j 
three and a half acres of cane, yielding from sixteen hun- 1 
dred to six thousand four hundred pounds of sugar, worth i 
six dollars per hundred pounds. He would not be able j 
to cut all of the cane grown on three and a half acres, as 
it has to be cut in a short time, but he would do his part 
of the cutting. Besides, he would, in cultivating other | 
products, like maize, beans, and vegetables, and in tending 




AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 



255 



stock, raise the provisions necessary for the subsistence of 
himself and family. 

The means of diversion and recreation among this 
class are limited. Perhaps one free agricultural working- 
man in every ten— say in the province of Sao Paulo, which 
is one of the most advanced — can read ; but among wom- 
en the number that can read is less. On Sundays and 
holidays the men visit the neighboring village or town, 
where sometimes there is a horse-race. Once in a while 
an ordinary circus comes round, which they attend. In a 
community of small farmers, when on a holiday a num- 
ber are assembled socially, pitching quoits is not an uncom- 
mon amusement. On such occasions, the women present, 
young and old, will sit looking on, smoking tobacco in 
pipes, a habit which is very common among women in the 
rural districts. Fishing with the rod is a common diver- 
sion of both sexes. At weddings, baptisms, and chris- 
tenings, when a large party of relatives and friends are 
assembled, there is dancing on the earth floor of the 
dwelling, when for music some of the men play a monot- 
onous strain on the banjo, the violin also being some- 
times used, and the women accompanying on the Castanet 
and tambourine. Thrashing " bees " of both sexes are 
frequent, when the people tread out the beans and rice 
with their feet. In some localities these gatherings afford 
almost the only opportunity which the young women 
have to display their good dresses, of which they some- 
times bring a trunkful, and thus in the course of the 
dance, through the night, appear in different gowns. 

In these communities the subsistence consists of man- 
di oca-meal, stewed black beans, chickens, which are usu- 
ally very abundant, pork, rice, sweet-potatoes, and yams. 
Coffee, which is freshly roasted every two or three days, is 



256 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



served frequently during the day, and always, among rich 
and poor, when a visitor comes in. It is served in small 
cups, without milk, and is sweetened with home-made 
sugar. Water is always kept ready to boil, in order to 
prepare coffee at short notice. Women, as well as men, 
occasionally take a glass of the rum of the country (which 
smells much better than it tastes), but the former scarcely 
ever, and the latter seldom, drink to great excess. Women 
go to confession once a year. As bearing on this usage, I 
may state that a perfectly authentic case has been related 
to me of flagrant breach of confidence on the part of a 
priest, though probably unintentional. In many of the 
rural communities women seem to do more work than the 
men. Besides labor in the house, they carry meals, often 
a great distance, to the men in the fields, and come home 
lugging wood. Hot unfrequently, in the more remote 
regions, men beat their wives, and the happiest couples 
in such cases are those who are not legally married, and 
who live together but a short time. The walls and roofs 
of the dwellings of these people are often in an unfinished 
state ; but " when it rains, the man can't do the work ; 
when it don't rain, the work is unnecessary." 

Stock-raising is one of the most interesting pursuits in 
Brazil, and is largely carried on in the south border prov- 
ince of Rio Grande do Sul, which is estimated to contain 
ten million head of cattle. The American vice-consul 
there, Mr. William A. Preller, states that the industry is 
almost wholly in the hands of the natives. It is very 
difficult for strangers to acquire suitable lands, they being 
transmitted to heirs and frequently allotted as marriage 
portions. The owner of a good piece of herding-land 
will make almost any sacrifice to purchase any adjoining 
lot that may be for sale, rather than let it go into strange 



AGEICULTUKE AND STOCK-RAISING. 257 



hands ; and ready cash is commonly scarce with holders 
of leagues of breeding-land and hundreds of cattle. 

The estanceiero, as the larger cattle-raiser is called, 
"little acquainted with the luxuries of town-life, lives 
almost in primitive simplicity, and with an abundance of 
meat, yerba-mate tea, and mandioca-flour, for himself, 
family, and servants ; a good stock of plate and jewelry 
in his house, good horses, with rich trappings for himself, 
and an occasional game of cards with his neighbors, he 
leads a lazy and easy life, suitable to the temperament of 
the genuine Brazilian." 

The value of land varies in proportion to the quality 
of the pasture, water-supply, and situation, say from ten 
to thirty thousand dollars for a tract of three thousand 
bragas square, which would be a tract over four miles 
square, or over ten thousand acres. Stock cattle, mostly 
cows and yearlings, with a few bulls, sell at from five 
to six dollars, one with the other, but, for butchery 
consumption, twelve to thirteen dollars is the current 
price for good selection. It is in part from the hides of 
these cattle that the Americans get their leather. The 
sale is often made on the raising-ground, but not infre- 
quently the cattle are sent in a herd of from three to 
five hundred head for public sale at Pelotas, the center 
of the saladeros, and where the slaughter amounts to 
two hundred and sixty thousand head a year. The breed 
is principally the long-horned cattle originally brought 
from Spain and Portugal, and of large size. Some of the 
cows, which are large and have long horns, yield a good 
quantity of milk. One of these cows, of the breed called 
Caragua, native of the province of Parana, of which I 
had a photograph taken at Piracicaba, measured four 
feet five inches in height, eight feet two inches length 



258 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



of body, and four feet seven inches between tips of 
horns. Age, nine years. 

Mr. Preller states that the means of transportation 
are very inferior, though gradually improving, as several 
bridges have been constructed over the rivers, which, 
from streamlets easily waded in the summer, become, 
during the winter months, or after heavy rains, most 
violent torrents, and quite impracticable for the passage 
of cattle or wagons, causing often a delay of many days. 
The roads, he says, have no claim whatever to the name, 
and are merely the tracks made by the ox-carts and hoofs 
of passing cattle driven in to the saladeros for slaughter. 
If the transport, which remains to be seen, can be made 
by railway, the cattle will then be brought to market in 
fewer hours than days now actually necessary; and in 
good condition, instead of worn and diminished in num- 
ber through casualties on the road, caused by drought, in- 
sufficient nourishment, and passage of flooded rivers, to 
say nothing of the tribe of drivers and horses indispen- 
sable for the safe driving. 

In regard to fruit-culture in Brazil, I would state that 
neither olives, figs, nor lemons are grown for commercial 
purposes. Figs are grown, and are occasionally seen fresh 
in the market. The lemons are small, and have a green 
skin. Grape-culture appears as yet to be in its infancy, 
though German and other colonists are giving increased 
attention to it. Grapes are successfully grown in the in- 
terior at an elevation of two thousand feet, as well as on 
the warmer lowland of the coast. The best results are 
obtained on sloping ground with gravelly soil. At Rio, 
Isabella grapes of domestic growth retail at twenty to 
forty cents a pound. Oranges grow in all parts of the 
empire, but it is only in the vicinity of Eio and Bahia 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 259 



that really good ones are produced. Large quantities are 
consumed in the country, and a few million are exported 
in bulk to the neighboring countries, Uruguay and the 
Argentine Republic. 

As Pernambuco is distinguished for its good pine- 
apples, so is Bahia — about midway between that port 
and Rio— distinguished for its large, sweet, and delicious 
oranges, the favorite variety being the Umbigo, which is 
without seeds. It begins to ripen about May and lasts till 
September. I succeeded in bringing some of these oranges 
in a good condition from Bahia to the United States. 
Sweet and excellent oranges are also produced exten- 
sively in the vicinity of Eio, though there is a tendency 
to crowd them on the market before they are fully ripe. 
The old Brazilians say that oranges are not fit to eat till 
the month of August. The more common kind is the 
Siletta, which when ripe has a sweet and delicate flavor 
not much inferior to the finest Florida oranges. It also 
has the size and form of a good Florida orange. When 
ripe the skin has a tinge of green mixed with yellow. 
These Silettas, when they first appear in the market, say 
in the month of April, are retailed at eight cents each, 
while during the month of June or July they can be had 
at a cent each. This variety is the orange of commerce, 
and of which, as I have said, large quantities are exported 
in bulk to the River Plate countries. The price paid for 
them at the orchard in June, say at Yilla Nova, an easy 
day's carriage from Rio, partly by water, is two dollars 
per thousand. 

Another variety, and which is much used for the 
table, is the Tangerina ; it is smaller than the Siletta, has 
an orange-yellow skin that breaks easily in peeling, and 
an aromatic odor ; it contains many seeds, and has some- 



260 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



what of a strawberry flavor and color. It ripens at the 
same time as the Siletta. Another good variety is the 
Natal, which is particularly valuable for its ripening 
about the time of Christmas. 

There is not much information of value to communi- 
cate in respect of cultivation. There is none of that en- 
thusiasm in orange-growing in Brazil that there is in 
Florida. One sees orange-trees in almost every garden, 
but many of them bear only natural and worthless fruit. 
Generally orange-orchards which yield fruit for the mar- 
ket are situated on low and somewhat sandy land, the 
selection being influenced by the facilities of water trans- 
portation. The young trees are planted in the months of 
April and May, though sometimes they are planted in 
March ; also in February, if the latter month be rainy. 
In the following August the trees are budded, provided, 
as is usually the case, they have got a good start. The 
trees are planted about fifteen feet apart ; begin to bear 
in five or six years, yielding twenty to thirty oranges 
each, and then continue to increase for ten years after, 
when they are in full bearing and produce from two to 
three hundred oranges per tree. They continue fruitful 
thirty years or more, according to cultivation. In the 
most favorable circumstances a tree will produce one thou- 
sand oranges in a year. Trees fully grown are pruned a 
little twice a year. 

The oranges are gathered by knocking them from the 
limbs with a pole, so that a piece of the twig two or three 
inches in length adheres to them, and are allowed to lie 
on the ground a few hours to dry before being picked 
up. One man will knock off and gather about three thou- 
sand oranges per day, at wages of one milreis per day, and 
his meals. It costs about sixty to eighty dollars a year for 



AGRICULTURE AND STOCK-RAISING. 261 



the labor to cultivate and take care of one thousand trees* 
Different crops are sometimes raised between the trees 
when they are young. Oranges are liable to attack and 
injury by a large black ant, which eats the leaves, and 
which is destroyed by pouring bisulphide of carbon into 
the ants' nest in the ground : also by a black bee, about 
the size of a common fly, and which is destroyed by burn- 
ing its nest. Brazilian oranges will stand a voyage of 
about twenty days. They are exported to some extent 
from the northern ports of Brazil to the United States. 

Rio buys many good apples and pears from the River 
Plate countries. For some years a large ship-load of 
Baldwin apples has arrived at Rio from Boston, either 
in December or J anuary, which have generally been re- 
tailed at eight cents apiece. 

Of small fruits there are scarcely any in the Rio mar- 
ket. Strawberries could be cultivated, but they are sold 
as yet only by the saucerf ul. There are neither black- 
berries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, nor cur- 
rants. However, a small blackberry and a species of 
raspberry are found growing wdld on the highlands 
about Rio, and doubtless they could be cultivated. 



CHAPTER XYL 

THE AMAZON Y ALLEY. « ^ 

Bkazil possesses, in the Amazon, the greatest river 
system in the world. Marked improvements have been 
made in the last twenty years in the means of travel up 
and down its waters. The point of starting for up river 
is the city of Para, situated on the Para River, and which 
is generally regarded as one of the outlets of the Amazon. 
I visited that city on the American steamer Advance, in 
July, 1885. It looks low from the water, yet has a fair 
elevation, and many of its streets are well paved and have 
a modern appearance. The passengers, ladies as well as 
men, all laid in a stock of " Panama v hats, which there 
can be bought for about fifty cents each. In going up 
from the ocean the Para River, after getting within a 
few miles of the city, resembles the Missouri in its 
broadest part, both in the light color of the water and the 
low, wooded banks. 

The Amazon Steam Navigation Company receives a 
subsidy from the Brazilian Government of two hundred 
thousand dollars a year, and runs screw and other steamers 
regularly from Para to distant ports on the upper Amazon 
and its principal tributaries. The traveler or merchant 
can in about ten days from the time he leaves the United 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



States reach Para, and in fifteen to twenty days more 
may find himself almost at the foot of the Andes, with 
no more discomfort than is experienced in a steamboat 
trip on the Missouri. Good steamers leave Para the 1st, 
10th, and 20th of each month for Manaos on the Amazon, 
at the mouth of the river Negro, nine hundred and twen- 
ty-seven miles from Para, stopping at about nine places, 
and making the trip in eight days ; first-class fare, board 
included, one hundred milreis, or say forty dollars. There 
is a good deal of difference in the steamers. Probably on 
the most of them passengers will sleep at night in their 
own hammocks, swung over the deck in a miscellaneous 
crowd, where pigs scamper over the deck in the capacity 
of scavengers. On the other hand, there are steamers 
running as far up as Manaos, like the Mandos, of the Bra- 
zilian Northern Navigation Company, which are as fine 
as any ocean-steamer. 

A steamer leaves Manaos the 28th of each month for 
Iqutos in Peru ; distance, eleven hundred and fifty-two 
miles, and fare fifty dollars. To Tabatinga, on the bound- 
ary of Peru, the fare is thirty-five dollars. A steamer 
leaves Para for San Antonio, at the head of navigation on 
the Madeira River, the 7th of every month; distance, 
seventeen hundred and twenty-three miles ; fare, eighty 
dollars. A steamer leaves Para for up the Purus, another 
of the remarkable navigable streams of Brazil, the 17th of 
every month. Distance to Anajas, the end of the route, 
twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven miles. The fare 
to Hyutanahan is eighty-six dollars, and the distance nine- 
teen hundred and ninety-seven miles. For the river Ne- 
gro a steamer leaves Para the 10th of every month ; fare 
to Santa Isabel, a distance of thirteen hundred and fifty 
miles, eighty-five dollars. In engaging transportation for 



264 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



a long trip a passenger would do well to obtain, if pos- I 1 
sible, a statement in writing of the kind of accommoda- 
tions and subsistence that are to be furnished, and then 
hold the company to their contract. The living ought to 
be good, and to comprise fresh beef, mutton, poultry, and 
fish, of which there are an abundance along the river. 
The tendency, however, of many steamers is, after get- 
ting the money of the passenger, to feed him on a miser- I 
able diet of canned and preserved food. 

The officers on these steamers are Brazilians and the 
crews Indians. The latter, however, are not only very 
docile, but are expert navigators. It is a noteworthy fact 
that a considerable part of the fuel consumed by the 
steamers is coal brought from England, the inhabitants 
along the Amazon being so absorbed in the production of 
rubber, especially when it is fetching a high price, that 
enough labor can not be had to furnish the steamers with 
wood. Americans and Europeans proposing a journey 
up the Amazon, should, of course, come with as little 
baggage as practicable. A gentleman would do well to 
be provided with two summer suits of wool and a thicker 
suit adapted for autumn or cold weather, as a day of 
windy and cold weather may occasionally be experienced. 
Boots and shoes with thick or cork soles are desirable ; 
also some clothing suitable for wet weather ; and, lastly, 
a hammock, in case it is intended to pass a night ashore 
up the river. The wet season is from January to May ; 
and, of course, there is occasionally rain in the rest of the 
year. The best time for a journey on the Amazon is in 
the dry season, say June, July, August, September, and 
October. 

In going from Bio de Janeiro to Para, passage can be 
taken on the well-managed steamers of the Northern 



i 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



265 



Brazil Navigation Company, which leave three times a 
month, calling at seven ports, and make the trip in four- 
teen days, the distance being twenty-one hundred miles ; 
fare, ninety dollars. Also, the new American steamers 
call at Para on their return voyage from Rio, and at three 
other ports between Rio and Para. 

The rising city of Para is the gateway of the Amazon 
trade. From the ocean you go up, as I have said, a bay 
and river to that city, and afterward come round into the 
Amazon proper. The place has taken a fresh start in 
recent years, and looks forward, as well it may, to become 
a large and splendid city. 

A well-informed American now residing and engaged 
in business in the Amazon Valley, and who has traveled 
through it a good deal, has just furnished me some fresh 
information in respect to people and things there. It is 
impossible, he says, to give the average width of country 
in the Amazon Yalley that is overflowed during the high- 
water season. The land bordering all of the rivers flow- 
ing north into the Amazon is overflowed during the high- 
water season, so much so that work in the rubber districts 
is entirely suspended, and the houses are elevated from 
three to six feet above the ground. The rivers flowing 
south into the Amazon, such as the Rio Negro, Japura, 
etc., are principally bordered by high land which is not 
subject to overflow. The land most suitable for agricult- 
ure is between the mouth of the Rio Negro and Macapa, 
a town situated near the mouth of the Amazon. It is 
there generally high, the soil fertile, and easily accessible, 
as steamers pass nearly every day. The provincial gov- 
ernments are doing all possible to encourage immigration ; 
consequently, land can be bought at a low price by mak- 
ing a petition to the Government. The only real profit- 
23 



266 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



able agricultural pursuit is tlie raising of cattle. A bul- 
lock sells at one hundred and ten milreis, say forty-four 
dollars. Sugar-cane, rice, and tobacco grow finely, but in 
1885 there was very little profit in these articles. A new 
settler would require a capital of at least two thousand j 
dollars to begin with, to clear the land, build his house, 
buy his stock and outfit. At present, however, there is 
no immigration of agricultural settlers. The drawbacks 
a foreign immigrant would meet are inability to speak M 
the language, not being acclimated and consequent lia- 
bility to fevers. A person coming direct from a northern 
country can not subject himself to out-door work for the 
first year on account of the heat. There are no means of 
communication or of transportation otherwise than by 
water. The interior of the country back from the navi- 
gable streams is unknown. The Government sends mis- 
sionaries among the Indians for the purpose of civilizing 
them. The prevailing and best opinion of the half-breeds 
is very poor; they are a lazy and troublesome class of | 
people, and much inferior to the original stock. 

The every-day food of the common class of people is 
farinha, rice, dried beef, fish, and game. The part which 
women take in supporting the family is simply to attend 
to the domestic affairs. "With regard to the physical and 
moral improvement of the people all that one can say is 
that there is room for improvement. Morals are at a 
very low ebb. The usual means of amusement and recre- 
ation are fishing and shooting. Gambling is very com- 
mon ; yet some progress is being made in the intellectual 
and economical condition of the people. There is no 
retrograde movement, and in fact the contrary. The low-jM j 
er class are superstitious respecting their religion. The 
principal occupations are gathering rubber, nuts, piassava, 



THE AMAZON Y ALLEY. 



267 



and fishing. As a general rule, a laborer spends all that 
he earns. The habit of saving seems to be entirely un- 
known to the lower class. A very small proportion of 
the people, as a rule, pay their debts — about a quarter 
part the past year. 

The testimony of my informant is that travel on the 
steamers between Para and Manaos is comparatively com- 
fortable, although the table is not luxurious. Sailing-ves- 
sels which pass between those towns are towed. 

As to the timber products of the forest, cedar is the 
only wood exported, and this industry does not pay very 
well, owing to the high rates of freight to the United 
States and Europe, and the labor being also high — four to 
five milreis per day. As to serpents and wild beasts, my 
informant states that, having traveled some thousand 
miles on the Amazon and its tributaries, he has come to 
the conclusion that the greater part of the stories about 
such animals has been "manufactured to make books in- 
teresting." 

" On the whole, 5 ' he winds up by saying, " I should 
not advise any of our Americans to immigrate here, as I 
consider that we have much better openings at home for 
our people. There are a number of Americans on the 
Amazon engaged in agriculture who bitterly regret hav- 
ing come to this country, and who are only struggling to 
make a little money to allow them to return. It is a very 
serious matter to encourage immigration of northern peo- 
ple to come to a climate like this, as there is great danger 
of sickness." 

Mr. Alfred R. Wallace, an able and unwearied English 
naturalist, and author of " Travels on the Amazon and 
Rio Negro," arrived at Para in a sailing-vessel from Liver- 
pool, May 26, 1848. The city then contained a popula- 



268 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

tion of fifteen thousand, was surrounded by dense forest 
and overtopped by palms and plantains. He hired an 
old negro man named Isidora for a cook and servant-of- 
all-work, and regularly commenced housekeeping, learn- 
ing Portuguese, and investigating the natural produc- 
tions of the country. In what he saw he was on the 
whole disappointed. The weather was not so hot, the 
people were not so peculiar, the vegetation was not so 
striking as the glowing pictures he had been brooding 
over ; and he sensibly remarks : " Travelers who crowd 
into one description all the wonders and novelties which 
it took them weeks and months to observe, must produce 
an erroneous impression on the reader, and cause him 
when he visits the spot to experience much disappoint- 
ment." Bits of gardens and waste ground intervening 
between the houses, fenced in with rotten palings, and 
filled with rank weeds and a few banana-plants, looked to 
him strange and unsightly. His general impression of 
the city of Para was not very favorable. The pirarucu 
fish, dried, with f arinha, formed the chief subsistence of 
the native population, and in the interior was often the 
only thing to be obtained. It looked much like a dry 
cowhide grated up into fibers and pressed into cakes, was 
boiled or slightly roasted, and, mixed with vinegar, oil, 
pepper, onions, and farinha, made a savory mess for a per- 
son with a strong stomach. The palmeto, another article 
of subsistence, was procured from the Assai palm, which 
was common, growing in the forest sometimes to a height 
of eighty feet, slender, with smooth stem, and very beau- 
tiful. 

Only a f ew miles above Para is the mouth of the Tocan- 
tins, one of the mighty rivers of the Amazon basin, and 
running due north. Mr. "Wallace, in the latter part of Au- 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



269 



gust, went up that river for a trip of a few weeks. At 
Baiao, in September, lie writes : " All round the village for 
some miles on the dry highland are coffee-plantations and 
second-OTOwth forest. Soil, red clav. 55 A tree common in 
Brazil he sees there — a large leguminous tree covered with 
clusters of pink and white flowers and large, pale-green, 
flat pods. "The depths of the virgin forest, 55 he says, 
"are solemn and grand, but there is nothing in this 
country to surpass the beauty of our river and woodland 
scenery. ... In the second-growth woods, in the Campos, 
and in many other places, there is nothing to tell any one 
but a naturalist that he is out of Europe. ... At the 
Falls the central channel is about a quarter of a mile wide, 
bounded by rocks, with a deep and very powerful stream 
rushing down in an unbroken sweep of dark-green waters, 
and producing eddies and whirlpools. . . . On both sides 
of the river, as far as the sight extends, is an undulating 
country, from four to five hundred feet high, covered 
with forests, the commencement of the elevated plains of 
Brazil. 55 The sounds at night on the Tocantins were: 
" One sort of frogs with usual croak, another like a dis- 
tant railway-train approaching, another like the sound of a 
blacksmith hammering on an anvil ; also terrific noise of 
the howling, the shrill grating whistle of cicadas and lo- 
custs, and peculiar notes of aquatic birds. 55 

Summing up in regard to this little side excursion, he 
says : " In the districts we passed through, cotton, coffee, 
and rice might be grown in any quantity and of the finest 
quality. The navigation is always safe and uninterrupted, 
and the whole country so intersected by igarepes and 
rivers that every estate has water-carriage for its produc- 
tions. ... A man can work as well here as in the hot 
months in England, and, if he will only work three hours 



270 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



in the morning and three in the evening, he will produce 
more of the necessaries and comforts of life than by 
twelve hours' daily labor at home. "We returned safely to 
Para, September 30th, just five weeks from the day we 
left. We had not had a wet day, yet found that, as usual, 
there had been at Para a shower and a thunder-storm 
every second or third day. 5 ' 

He went out into the alluvial country a short journey 
from Para, and witnessed, in one of the numerous lakes 
abounding in fish, a hunt for alligators, which were 
captured as a business, for their oil. " Hung our ham- 
mock for the night in a little, dirty, ruined hut, from 
which a short time before an onga (jaguar) had carried 
away a large bundle of fish." As many as thirty alliga- 
tors of large size were captured in a day. " In the even- 
ing, after the alligator-hunt, the negroes sang several 
hymns as a thanksgiving for having escaped their jaws." 

Another trip was made up the Guama River, which 
comes in from the southeast, near Para, and its tributary, 
the Capim. A short distance up the former the banks 
are rather undulating, with many pretty estates. " We 
went pleasantly along " (in a canoe on the Capim) " for 
two or three days, the country being prettily diversified 
with cane-fields, rice-grounds, and houses built by the 
early Portuguese settlers, with elegant little chapels at- 
tached, and cottages for the negroes and Indians, all much 
superior in appearance aod taste to anything erected now." 

Finally, Mr. Wallace embarked in a canoe for a voyage 
of five hundred miles up the Amazon to Santarem, and 
he writes : " In about twelve days after leaving Para we 
were in the Amazon itself. . . . We now felt the influ- 
ence of the easterly wind, which during the whole of the 
summer months blows pretty steadily up the Amazon, and 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



271 



enables vessels to make way against its powerful current. 
Sometimes we had thunder-storms, with violent squalls. 
. . . The most striking features of the Amazon are its 
vast expanse of smooth water, generally from three to six 
miles wide ; its pale yellowish-olive color ; the great beds 
of aquatic grass which line its shores, large masses of 
which are often detached and form floating islands ; the 
quantity of fruits and leaves and great trunks of trees 
which it carries down ; and its level banks clad with lofty, 
unbroken forest. In places the white stems and leaves of 
the cecropias give a peculiar aspect, and in others the 
straight, dark trunks of lofty forest-trees form a living 
wall along the water's edge. Numerous flocks of parrots 
and the great red and yellow macaws fly across every 
morning and evening, uttering their hoarse cries. Herons 
and ducks are numerous, but most characteristic are the 
gulls and terns. All night long their cries are heard over 
the sand-banks. . . . On the north bank of the Amazon, 
for about two hundred miles, are ranges of low hills, 
which, as well as the country between them, are partly 
bare and partly covered with brush and thickets. They 
vary from three hundred to one thousand feet high, and 
extend inland. . . . After passing them there are no more 
hills visible from the river for more than two thousand 
miles, till we reach the lowest range of the Andes." 

After a voyage of twenty-eight days he reached San- 
tarem, at the mouth of the Tapajos, another big river 
flowing from the south, and whose blue, transparent 
waters formed a most pleasing contrast to the turbid 
stream of the Amazon. Santarem is pleasantly situated 
on a slope, with a fine sandy beach, and its trade consisted 
principally in Brazil-nuts, salsaparila, farinha, and salt 
fish. The village of Monte-Alegre, which he had passed 



272 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



on the north shore, lie describes as situated on a hill about 
a quarter of a mile from the water's edge. There were 
no neat inclosnres or gardens, nothing but weeds and rub- 
bish on every side. The trade was in cacao, fish, cala- 
bashes, and cattle. The cacao was grown on the low 
lands along the banks of the river, and all planted on 
cleared ground fully exposed to the sun, and did not seem 
to thrive so well as when in the shade of the partly 
cleared forest, as was the plan on the Tocantins. " When 
an Indian can get a few thousand cacao-trees planted, he 
passes an idle, quiet, contented life ; all he has to do is to 
weed under them two or three times a year and to gather 
and dry the seeds." 

In a little excursion into the country back of the last- 
named village he found the surface an undulating, sandy 
plain, in some places thickly covered with bushes, and in 
others with large, scattered trees. At a distance of ten or 
twelve miles were several fine, rocky mountains. He 
visited and ascended one of these, and on the other side 
saw a wide, undulating plain, covered with scattered trees 
and shrubs, with a yellow, sandy soil and a brownish vege- 
tation. " Beyond this was seen stretching out to the hori- 
zon a succession of low, conical, and oblong hills, stud- 
ding the distant plain in every direction. Not a house 
was to be seen, and the picture was one little calculated to 
impress the mind with a favorable idea of the fertility of 
the country or the beauty of tropical scenery." Return- 
ing to Monte- Alegre on a small stream filled with grass and 
weeds, he saw many alligators. " Every year some lives 
are lost by incautiousness." Returning to Santarem to 
collect insects, he speaks of the " grateful and refreshing " 
water-melons. " The constant hard exercise, pure air, and 
good living kept us in the most perfect health, and I have 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



273 



never altogether enjoyed myself so much." He observed 
that the tide in the Amazon rose to considerably above 
Santarem, but that it never flowed — merely rose and fell. 

The last of December, 1849, he arrived at Manaos, on 
the east bank of the Rio Negro, twelve miles above its 
junction with the Amazon, a city then containing about 
five thousand inhabitants, mostly of mixed blood. Manaos 
is situated thirty feet above high water, and its streets are 
regularly laid out. The river there is a mile wide. Con- 
tinuing his voyage up the Amazon, he says : " The low- 
lands, called ' Gapo,' varying in width from one to ten or 
twenty miles on each side of the river above Santarem to 
the confines of Peru, are in great part flooded six months 
of the year." 

On the 31st of August, 1850, Mr. Wallace started 
from Manaos for an extensive voyage up the Eio Ne- 
gro and some of its tributaries, occupying nearly two 
years, in the course of which he visited several of the wild 
tribes of Indians, After getting a few miles above Ma- 
naos, the river is so wide for several hundred miles that 
both banks can not be seen at once ; they are probably 
from ten to twenty-five miles apart, and some of the isl- 
ands are of great size. He found all the villages desolate 
and half deserted. u Called at the house of a man who 
owed Mr. L some money and who paid him in tur- 
tles, eight or nine of which we embarked. . . . Yery fine 
weather, but every afternoon, or at least four or five times 
a week, we had a storm, with violent gusts of wind, and 
often thunder and rain. . . . After September 30th, gra- 
nitic rocks, and river became more picturesque." 

After making some hunting excursions in the thick 
forest, accompanied by naked Indians, he on January 27, 
1851, left Guia, continuing the voyage up the Kio Negro, 



271 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



,and on February 1st reached the Serra Cocoi, which marks 
the boundary between Brazil and Venezuela — granite rock, 
precipitous, and nearly a thousand feet high. " During 
colonial times," he says, " the Indians learned how to con- 
struct vessels for coast and inland trade, and have not 
forgotten the art. By eye and hand alone they form the 
framework and fit on the planks of fine little vessels of a 
hundred tons or more with no other tools than axe, adze, 
and hammer. ... A great part of the population of the 
upper Rio Negro is engaged in gathering piassaba broom- 
fiber for exportation. Men, women, and children go in 
large parties into the forest to obtain it. The whole stem 
of a curious palm, twenty to thirty feet high, growing in 
moist places, is covered with a thick coating of this fiber, 
hanging down like coarse hair. It is found on two of the 
southern and three of the northern tributaries. ... In- 
dians will take two loads a day, ten miles each way, at a 
sort of run — the loads suspended from a pole between 
them." He speaks of the graceful forms of Indians ; is 
deserted by his own Indians. 

Mr. "Wallace says it is a "vulgar error, copied and re- 
peated from one book to another, that in the tropics the I 
luxuriance of the vegetation overpowers the efforts of 
man. . . . The 6 primeval ' forest can be converted into 
rich pasture and meadow-land, cultivated field and garden, ] 
with half the labor and in less than half the time required 
at home. ... In the whole Amazon no such thing as 
neatness has ever been tried." He recommends the Rio 
Negro country for settlement and cultivation. 

On February 16, 1852, he starts on another ascent of 
the Uaupes, with seven of the Uaupe Indians with him, i 
some of whom break their promise. Speaking of the 
superstition of the Indians, he says women are killed who i 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



275 



even accidentally beliold a certain musical instrument. At 
the Uarucapuri village he sees handsome men of the Co- 
beu nation. It was with difficulty he succeeded in buying 
two or three baskets of farinha. On March 12th he 
reached Mucura, his destination, having passed fifty rap- 
ids and falls, The Indians were naked. " One woman 
appeared as ashamed with a petticoat on as civilized people 
would be if they took theirs olf." He was in a part of 
the country never before visited by a European ; but he 
was disappointed in his expectation of finding rare and 
handsome birds, and starts on March 28th on his return 
trip. He names a couple of white men who with a suffi- 
cient force had engaged in the amiable business of attack- 
ing the Carapanas tribe with the hope of getting a lot of 
women, boys, and children to take "as presents" to Ma- 
naos. On April 4th he records that they " arrived with 
a fleet of canoes and upward of twenty prisoners, all but 
one women and children. Seven men and one woman 
had been killed ; the rest of the men escaped ; but only 
one of the attacking party was killed." Of course, it did 
not often happen that a witness like Mr. Wallace was 
present to report such innocent little expeditions ! 

Parties meeting on the river, having lost their date, 
ask, u "What day is it with you ? " Dwellers along the 
banks of the river Negro, wishing to do a little shopping 
a few hundred miles below, frequently ask passers to 
bring them, on their return, what they require. 

Mr. "Wallace reached Manaos on May 17th. He had 
obtained in the Amazon Yalley five hundred species of 
birds, and thought a thousand might be got. He found 
two hundred and five species of fish in the Rio Negro, 
and thought there were many more. The dry season, he 
states, is from June to December, and the wet season 



276 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



from January to May. On the upper Amazon lie once 
experienced a hail-storm. On getting back to Para lie 
found that it had much improved. He declares that its 
climate is exceptional, being one of the most agreeable in 
the world. But there were some drawbacks, a " univer- 
sal and insecure system of credit " ; and the three great 
vices prevalent were " drinking, gambling, and lying." 

With reference to the province of Para he says : 
" There is perhaps no country in the world so capable of 
yielding a large return for agricultural labor, and yet so 
little cultivated ; none where the earth will produce such 
a variety of valuable productions, and where they are so 
totally neglected ; none where the facilities for internal 
communication are so great, or where it is more difficult 
or tedious to get from place to place ; none which so much 
possesses all the natural requisites for an immense trade 
with all the world, and where commerce is so limited and 
insignificant. . . . Nature presents but a monotonous 
scene. In the interior of the country there is not a road 
or path out of the towns along which a person can walk 
with comfort or pleasure ; all is dense forest, or more im- 
passable clearings. Here are no flower-bespangled mead- 
ows, no turfy glades, or smooth shady walks to tempt the 
lover of Nature ; here are no dry, graveled roads, no 
field-side paths, ... no long summer evenings to wander 
in at leisure; nor long winter nights with the blazing 
hearth." He expresses the opinion that the large extent 
of flat land in the Amazon Yalley would continue to be 
flooded till raised by renewed earthquakes. 

Fourteen years pass, and a new actor appears on the 
scene. Prof. Agassiz made his indefatigable and most 
valuable scientific journey on the Amazon just after the 
close of the American civil war. He spent from August, 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



277 



1865, to March, 1866 — a period of fully six months — in 
most active research in the Amazon Valley, assisted by 
Mrs. Agassiz and by several talented young Americans of 
scientific education. One part of the result of this tour 
was a fine volume, entitled " A Journey in Brazil,' 5 by 
Prof, and Mrs. Agassiz. These enlightened travelers had, 
of course, good opportunities to see both Nature and soci- 
ety, and I shall venture to make some extracts from their 
narrative. The Brazilian Company of Amazon River 
Steamers generously placed at the disposition of Prof. 
Agassiz and party, for a month, the use of one of their 
best steamers for the trip from Para to Manaos, which is 
usually made in five days. On August 20th, the first day 
of the trip, Mrs. Agassiz thus describes the accommoda- 
tions : 

" Thus far the hardships of this South American jour- 
ney seem to retreat at our approach. It is impossible to 
travel with greater comfort than surrounds us here. My 
own suite of rooms consists of a good-sized state-room, 
with dressing-room and bath-room adjoining ; and, if the 
others are not quite so luxuriously accommodated, they 
have space enough. The state-rooms are hardly used at 
night, for a hammock on deck is far more comfortable in 
this climate. Our deck, roofed in for its whole length, 
and with an awning to let down on the sides, if needed, 
looks like a comfortable, unceremonious sitting-room. A 
table down the middle serving as a dinner-table, but which 
is at this moment strewed with maps, journals, books, and 
papers of all sorts ; two or three lounging-chairs, a num- 
ber of camp-stools, and half a dozen hammocks, in one or 
two of which some of the party are taking their ease — 
furnish our drawing-room, and supply all that is needed 
for work and rest. 35 

24 



278 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



From Manaos they continued the trip up the Amazon 
on another steamer, which was furnished by the Brazilian 
Government. Of course, their accommodations were bet- 
ter than ordinary travelers would receive. On September 
12th Mrs. Agassiz writes : " Nothing can be more com- 
fortable than the traveling on these Amazonian boats. 
They are clean and well kept, with good-sized state-rooms, 
which most persons use, however, only as dressing-rooms, 
since it is always more agreeable to sleep on the open 
deck in one's hammock. The table is very well kept, the 
fare good, though not varied. Bread is the greatest defi- 
ciency, but hard biscuit makes a tolerable substitute. Our 
life is after this fashion : We turn out of our hammocks 
at dawn, go down-stairs to make our toilets, and have a 
cup of hot coffee below. By this time the decks are gen- 
erally washed and dried, the hammocks removed, and we 
can go above again. Between then and the breakfast- 
hour, at half-past ten o'clock, I generally study Portu- 
guese, though my lessons are somewhat interrupted by 
watching the shore and the trees — a constant temptation 
when we are coasting along near the banks. At half -past 
ten or eleven o'clock breakfast is served, and after that 
the glare of the sun becomes trying, and I usually descend 
to the cabin, where we make up our journals and write 
during the middle of the day. ... At three o'clock I 
consider that the working-hours are over, and then I take 
a book and sit in my lounging-chair on deck, and watch 
the scenery, and the birds and the turtles, and the alliga- 
tors if there are any, and am lazy in a general way. At 
five o'clock dinner is served (the meals being always on 
deck), and after that begins the delight of the day. At 
that hour it grows deliciously cool, the sunsets are always 
beautiful, and we go to the forward deck and sit there till 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



279 



nine o'clock in the evening. Then comes tea, and then 
to our hammocks ; I sleep in mine most profoundly till 
morning." 

" September 17th. — These upper stations on the Ama- 
zons are haunted by swarms of mosquitoes at night, and 
during the day by a little biting fly called pium y no less 
annoying. 

" September 18th (the day before reaching Tabatinga). 
— The scenery is by no means so interesting as that of the 
lower Amazons. The banks are ragged and broken, the 
forest lower, less luxuriant, and the palm-growths very 
fitful. . . . The steamer is often now between the shores 
of the river itself instead of coasting along by the many 
lovely islands which make the voyage between Para and 
Manaos so diversified. . . . Then the element of human 
life and habitations is utterly wanting ; one often travels 
for a day without meeting even so much as a hut. But, 
if men are not to be seen, animals are certainly plenty ; 
as our steamer puffs along, great flocks of birds rise up 
from the shore, turtles pop their black noses out of the 
water, alligators show themselves occasionally, and some- 
times a troop of brown capivari scuttles up the bank, 
taking refuge in the trees at our approach." 

With reference to the state of society, Prof. Agassiz 
says : " Two things are strongly impressed on the mind of 
the traveler in the upper Amazons : the necessity, in the 
first place, of a larger population ; and, secondly, of a bet- 
ter class of whites, before any fair beginning can be made 
in developing the resources of the country. . . . Not 
only is the white population too small for the task before 
it, but it is no less poor in quality than meager in num- 
bers. It presents the singular spectacle of a higher race 
receiving the impress of a lower one, of an educated class 



280 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS. 



adopting the habits and sinking to the level of the savage. 
In the towns of the upper Amazons the people who pass 
for the white gentry of the land, while they profit by the 
ignorance of the Indian to cheat and abuse him, neverthe- 
less adopt his social habits, sit on the ground, and eat with 
their fingers as he does. . . . The white man engages an 
Indian to work for him at a certain rate, at the same time 
promising to provide him with clothes and food until such 
time as he shall have earned enough to take care of him- 
self. This outfit, in fact, costs the employer little ; but, 
when the Indian comes to receive his wages, he is told 
that he is already in debt to his master for what has been 
advanced to him: instead of having a right to demand 
money, he owes work. The Indians allow themselves to 
be deceived in this way to an extraordinary extent, and 
remain bound to the service of a man for a lifetime, be- 
lieving themselves under the burden of a debt, while they 
are in fact creditors." He thinks that neither Americans 
nor Englishmen would degrade themselves to the social 
level of the Indians as the Portuguese do. 

The following is very true to-day: "The Brazilians 
are very happy in their after-dinner speeches, expressing 
themselves with great facility, either from a natural gift, 
or because speech-making is an art in which they have had 
much practice. The habit of drinking healths and giving 
toasts is very general throughout the country, and the 
most informal dinner among intimate friends does not 
conclude without some mutual greetings of this kind." 

At Manaos Prof, and Mrs. Agassiz also attended a 
ball given at the residence of the president of the prov- 
ince, and, there being no carriages in the place, different 
parties of invited guests were to be seen groping through 
the streets at the appointed time, lighted with lanterns. 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



281 



" The dresses," says Mrs. Agassiz, " were of every variety, 
from silks and satins to stuff-gowns, and the complexions 
of all tints, from the genuine negro through paler shades 
of Indian and negro to white. There is absolutely no dis- 
tinction of color here ; a black lady (always supposing her 
to be free) is treated with as much consideration and 
meets with as much attention as a white one. It is, how- 
ever, rare to see a person in society who can be called a 
genuine negro ; but there are many mulattoes and mame- 
lucos — that is, persons having black or Indian blood. 
There is little ease in Brazilian society, even in the larger 
cities ; still less in the smaller ones, where to guard against 
mistakes the conventionalities of town-life are exagger- 
ated. The Brazilians, indeed, though so kind and hospi- 
table, are formal, fond of etiquette and social solemnities. 
On their arrival, all the senhoras (married ladies) were 
placed in stiff rows around the walls of the dancing-room. 
Occasionally an unfortunate cavalier would stray in and 
address a few r words to this formal array of feminine 
charms; but it was not until the close of the evening, 
when dancing had broken up the company into groups, 
that the scene became really gay. At intervals trays 
of doces (confectionery and cake) and tea were handed 
round, and at twelve there was a more solid repast, at 
which all the ladies were seated, their partners standing 
behind their chairs and waiting upon them. Then began 
the toasts and healths, which were given and received 
with great enthusiasm." 

Again, Mrs. Agassiz writes : " Whenever we have been 
present at public festivities in Brazil — and our observa- 
tion is confirmed by other foreigners — we have been 
struck with the want of gayety, the absence of merriment. 
There is a kind of lack-luster character in their fetes, so 



282 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



far as any demonstration of enjoyment is concerned. Per- 
haps it is owing to their enervating climate, but the Bra- 
zilians do not seem to work or play with a will. They 
have not the activity which, while it makes life a restless 
fever with our people, gives it interest also ; neither have 
they the love of amusement of the Continental Euro- 
peans." At the time of their visit Brazil was engaged in 
the long and costly war with Paraguay, which possibly 
might have been one cause of the sober manners of the 
people. 

There was not at that time, and probably there is not 
now, a decent hotel throughout the whole length of the 
Amazon, and any one who thinks of stopping at the towns 
had better provide himself with such letters as will secure 
accommodation in private houses. " One is quite inde- 
pendent in the matter of bedding ; nobody travels without 
his own hammock, and the net, which in many places is a 
necessity on account of the mosquitoes. Beds and bed- 
ding are almost unknown, and there are none so poor as 
not to possess two or three of the strong and neat twine 
hammocks made by the Indians themselves from the fibers 
of the palm." The refreshment of a hammock is the first 
act of hospitality in the upper Amazon offered one arriv- 
ing from any distance. " One does not see much of the 
world between one o'clock and four in this climate. These 
are the hottest hours of the day, and there are few who 
can resist the temptation of the cool, swinging hammock, 
slung in some shady spot within doors or without. . . . 
Smoking is almost universal among the common women 
here, yet it is not confined to the lower classes. Many a 
senhora (at least in this part of Brazil, for we must dis- 
tinguish between the civilization on the banks of the 
Amazon and in the interior and that in the cities along 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



283 



the coast) enjoys her pipe, while she lounges in her ham- 
mock through the heat of the day." 

It would be a mistake to suppose that this valley is 
abundantly supplied with subsistence. " In the midst of 
a country which should be overflowing with agricultural 
products/' Mrs. Agassiz states, "neither milk, nor butter, 
nor cheese, nor vegetables, are to be had. You constantly 
hear people complaining of the difficulty of procuring 
even the commonest articles of domestic consumption, 
when, in fact, they ought to be produced by every land- 
owner." In the upper Amazon "a well-stocked turtle- 
tank is to be found in almost every yard, as the people 
depend largely upon turtles for their food." 

Mrs. Agassiz gives some uncommonly fine sketches of 
aboriginal life, though the Indians, on account of the forced 
recruiting that was going on, were not seen at their best. 
The Indian women said " the forest was very sad " then, 
because all their men had been taken as recruits, or were 
seeking safety in the woods. As a general thing, the 
houses of the Indians were found more tidy than those of 
the whites. " However untidy they may be in other re- 
spects, they always bathe once or twice a day, if not oft- 
ener, and wash their clothes frequently. We have never 
yet entered an Indian house where there was any disagree- 
able odor, unless it might be the peculiar smell from the 
preparation of the mandioca in the working-room outside, 
which has, at a certain stage of the process, a slightly sour 
smell. . . . Although the Indians are said to be a lazy 
people, and are unquestionably fitful and irregular in their 
habits of work, in almost all these houses some character- 
istic occupation was going on. In two or three the women 
were making hammocks." 

While even the partly civilized Indians of the Amazon 



284 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Valley would seem to live from hand to month, it must 
be remembered that as gatherers of rubber in the forest 
wilds they supply a large part of one of Brazil's leading 
commercial products. 

In October Prof. Agassiz and party were taken by the 
president of the province, and some other Brazilian gen- 
tlemen, on an excursion to a lake some hours distant by 
row-boat from Manaos, on whose shore they spent a couple 
of days at the house of one of the Indian gentry. It was 
the first visit of the new president of the province to the 
Indian village of which this house formed a part. Mrs. 
Agassiz thus describes the place : " This pretty Indian vil- 
lage is hardly recognized as a village at once, for it con- 
sists of a number of sitios scattered through the forest ; 
and, though the inhabitants look on each other as friends 
and neighbors, yet from our landing-place only one sitio 
is to be seen — that at which we are staying. It stands on 
a hill sloping gently up from the lake-shore, and consists 
of a mud house, containing two rooms, besides several 
large, open palm-thatched rooms outside. One of these 
outer sheds is the mandioca-kitchen, another is the com- 
mon kitchen, and a third, which is just now used as our 
dining-room, serves on festal days and occasional Sundays 
as a chapel. It differs from the other in having the upper 
end closed in with a neat thatched wall, against which, in 
time of need, the altar-table may stand, with candles and 
rough prints or figures of the Virgin and saints. We 
were very hospitably received by the senhora of the mud 
house, an old Indian woman, whose gold ornaments, neck- 
lace, and ear-rings were rather out of keeping with her 
calico skirt and cotton waist. Besides the old lady, the 
family consists, at this moment, of her god-daughter, with 
her little boy, and several other women employed about 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



285 



the place. . . . The situation of this sitio is exceedingly 
pretty, and as we sit around the table in our open, airy 
dining-room, surrounded by the forest, we command a 
view of the lake and wooded hill-side opposite and of the 
little landing below, where are moored our barge, with its 
white awning, the gay canoe, and two or three Indian 
montarias. After breakfast our party dispersed, some to 
rest in their hammocks, others to hunt or fish, while Mr. 
Agassiz was fully engaged in examining a large basket of 
fish just brought up from the lake for his inspection. . . . 
Dinner brought us all together again at the close of the 
afternoon. As we are with the president of the province, 
our picnic is of a much more magnificent character than 
our purely scientific excursions have been. Instead of our 
usual make-shifts — tea-cups doing duty as tumblers, and 
empty barrels acting as chairs — we have a silver soup- 
tureen, and a cook, and a waiter, and knives and forks 
enough to go round, and many other luxuries which such 
wayfarers as ourselves learn to do without. While we 
were dining, the Indians began to come in from the 
surrounding forest to pay their respects to the president 
for his visit was the cause of great rejoicing, and there 
was to be a ball in his honor in the evening. They 
brought an enormous cluster of game as an offering. 
What a mass of color it was ! — more like a gorgeous bou- 
quet of flowers than a bunch of birds. It was composed 
entirely of toucans, with their red and yellow beaks, blue 
eyes, and soft white breasts bordered with crimson ; and 
of parrots, with their gorgeous plumage of green, blue, 
purple, and red. When we had dined we took coffee out- 
side, while our places around the table were filled by the 
Indian guests, who were to have a dinner-party in their 
turn. It was pleasant to see with how much courtesy 



286 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

II 

several of the Brazilian gentlemen of our party waited 
upon these Indian senhoras, passing them a variety of j 
dishes, helping them to wine, and treating them with as j 
much attention as if they had been the highest ladies of 
the land. They seemed, however, rather shy and embar- j 
rassed, scarcely touching the nice things placed before 
them, till one of the gentlemen, who has lived a good deal 
among the Indians and knows their habits perfectly, took 
the knife and fork from one of them, exclaiming : ' Make 
no ceremony, and don't be ashamed ; eat with your fingers j 
as you're accustomed to do, and then you'll find your ap- 
petites and enjoy your dinner.' His advice was followed, 
aed I must say they seemed much more comfortable in | 
consequence, and did more justice to the good fare." 

Indian society presents one peculiar feature. Many a 
family gets along without the presence of men-folks ; and, 
if the husband and father is likely to be worthless, his ab- ; 
sence is a source of happiness. The home of an Indian ! 
family of gentle condition, and living in comfort in the j 
village just mentioned, was visited, and when the grown I 
daughter was asked as to the whereabout of her father, 
the mother answered, smiling : " She hasn't any father ; 
she is the daughter of chance"; and when the daughter | 
was asked if the father of her two little children was away f 
in the war, she replied, " They haven't any father." The j 
partly civilized Indian women seem to lead, on the whole, 8 
a happy life. " The life of the Indian women," says Mrs. 
Agassiz, " so far as we have seen it, seems enviable, in 
comparison with that of the Brazilian lady in the Ama- I 
zonian towns. The former has a healthful out-door life ; 
she has her canoe on the lake or river, and her paths j 
through the forest, with perfect liberty to come and go ; 
she has her appointed daily occupations, being busy not 



I 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



287 



only with tlie care of her house and children, but in mak- 
ing farinha or tapioca, or in drying and rolling tobacco, 
while the men are fishing and turtle-hunting ; and she has 
her frequent festa-days to enliven her working-life. It is, 
on the contrary, impossible to imagine anything more 
dreary and monotonous than the life of the Brazilian sen- 
hora in the smaller towns. In the northern provinces espe- 
cially, the old Portuguese notions about shutting women 
up and making their home-life as colorless as that of a 
cloistered nun, without even the element of religious en- 
thusiasm to give it zest, still prevail. Many a Brazilian 
lady passes day after day without stirring beyond her four 
walls, scarcely ever showing herself at the door or win- 
dow ; for she is always in a slovenly deshabille^ unless she 
expects company. It is sad to see these stifled exist- 
ences ; without any contact with the world outside, without 
any charm of domestic life, without books or culture of 
any kind, the Brazilian senhora in this part of the coun- 
try either sinks contentedly into a vapid, empty, aimless 
life, or frets against her chains, and is as discontented as 
she is useless." 

With reference to the mixture^of races, Prof. Agassiz 
records the following opinion : " Let any one who doubts 
the evil of this mixture of races, and is inclined, from a 
mistaken philanthropy, to break down all barriers between 
them, come to Brazil. He can not deny the deterioration 
consequent upon an amalgamation of races, more wide- 
spread here than in any other country in the world, and 
which is rapidly effacing the best qualities of the white 
man, the negro, and the Indian, leaving a mongrel nonde- 
script type, deficient in physical and mental energy." 

During this exploration Prof. Agassiz collected from 
the waters of the Amazon Yalley nearly two thousand 



288 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



different species of fish, a result the significance of which 
will be recognized when one is told that in all the rivers 
of Europe there are less than one hundred and fifty spe- 
cies of fresh-water fish. The artist of the expedition, Mr. 
Burkhardt, painted more than eight hundred sketches of 
different fishes from life — that is, from the fish swimming 
in a large glass tank before him. 

Near the close of his work, Prof. Agassiz, in a letter to 
the Emperor, bore generous testimony to the co-operation 
the Brazilians had given to his labors : " From the presi- 
dent to the most humble employes of the provinces I have 
visited 5 all have competed with each other to render my 
work more easy." 

I shall finish this chapter with some testimony on the 
situation of American settlers in the Amazon Yalley, by 
Dr. Herbert H. Smith, author of the valuable work, "Bra- 
zil, the Amazons, and the Coast." His visit there was ten 
years after that of Prof. Agassiz, namely, in 1875. At 

Santarem he met with Mr. P , one of some fifty 

Americans who had come from the Southern States in 
1866, and who were engaged in farming about six miles 
distant. Originally the colony had been much larger, for 
"with a few good families there came a rabble of lazy 
vagabonds who looked upon the affair as a grand ad- 
venture. Arrived at Santarem, they were received kindly 
enough, but after a little the good people became disgusted 
with their guests, who quarreled incessantly, and filled 
the town with their drunken uproar. Government aid for 
the colony was withdrawn ; gradually the scum floated 
away, leaving the memory of their worthlessness to injure 
the others. The few families that remained had to out- 
live public opinion, and a hard time they had of it, with 
poverty on one side and ill-will on the other. But in 



THE AMAZON" VALLEY. 



289 



time the Brazilians discovered that these were not vaga- 
bonds ; they learned to respect their industry and perse- 
verance, and now all through the Amazon you will hear 
nothing but good words of the Santarem colony." Dr. 

Smith accepted an urgent invitation from Farmer P , 

a tall Tennessean, to go out to the settlement for a few 
days, where he met with a cordial welcome. The farm- 
er's home was situated a few miles distant, in a large clear- 
ing in the forest, at the base of a plateau that is some 
hundred feet above the river. All around there were 
splendid masses of green cacao-trees, and lime-trees, and 
great pale banana-plants, and coffee-bushes straying up 
into the woods ; and beyond those a bit of untouched for- 
est, with a giant Brazil-nut tree towering over it. He 

says : " With all the beauty of the site, P evidently 

has a hard time of it ; he looks care-worn, and a little dis- 
couraged. The land is excellent, but the stream is too 
small to give him a good water-power, and without that 
he can not manage a large cane-plantation. He complains 
of the low prices that he receives for his produce ; the 
Santarem traders take advantage of his helplessness, and 
he is often obliged to sell below the market value. All 
the Americans are cultivating sugar-cane ; the juice is 
distilled into rum, which is sold at Santarem. Probably 
coffee or cacao might pay better, but our colonists came 
here without money, and they could not wait for slow- 
growing crops. Mr. P tells how he and his family 

were housed, with the others, in a great thatched build- 
ing; how the colonists were supported for a while on 
Government rations, until they could locate their planta- 
tions and get in their first crops ; how they had to strug- 
gle with utter poverty, work without tools, live as best 

they could until their fields were established. P 

25 



290 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



saved a little money, and bought this ground of an old 
Indian woman ; it was only a small clearing, with a dozen 
fruit-trees. The family lived in a rough shed until they 

could build a thatched house ? and P himself had to 

bring provisions from Santarem on his back. It was a 
long time before he could cut a road, and longer before 
he had horses for his work. . . . He had to grind his cane 
with a rough wooden mill until he could procure an iron 
one from the United States ; he had to get his still on 
credit, and pay a high price for it ; horses, oxen, carts, 
casks, were all obtained by slow degrees and at a great 
sacrifice. He has been his own carpenter, mason, ma- 
chinist — everything ; it was a long time before he could 
even hire an Indian to work for him. And now, after 
seven years of hard struggle, he finds himself with — what ? 
A plantation that he could not sell for one fourth of its 
real value, simply because there are no buyers ; a burden 
of debts that it will take him a long time to pay ; and 
himself with a broken-down body and discouraged heart. 
" ' The children have no schooling, 5 complains Mrs. 

P ; ' they can't even go to a Brazilian master, for we 

are too far from town.' She talks of sending them to 
the States, but I fear it will be a long time before her 
husband can afford that. The family are Protestants, but 
they never hear a Protestant service now, unless rarely, 
when a missionary or traveling minister passes this way. 
Sometimes they visit with the Americans, but the planta- 
tions are far apart, and the roads are rough, and it is not 
often that they can make a holiday, unless it be of a Sun- 
day. ... 

" After a while we find our way to other American 
houses ; the nearest of these are at Diamantina,, a little 
settlement two or three miles beyond P- 's house. . . . 



TEE AMAZON VALLEY. 



291 



R 's house is really very pretty ; to be sure, it is cov- 
ered entirely with palm-thatch, but the wide hall through 
the middle looks cool and inviting ; there are orange-trees 
on either side, and a flower-garden in front, with a beauti- 
ful clear stream, where R has built a bathing-house 

over the water. The whole looks so neat and tasteful that 
we half believe in Mr. Wallace's romantic dream, after all. 

But there is the drunken Indian at the still, and R 's 

tired face taking the color from the picture. Mrs. R 

speaks sadly of her Charleston home, and the intellectual 
society which she has left there. I fear that this family 
is hardly better satisfied than are the others." In course 

of time Dr. Smith leaves his pleasant quarters at P -'s 

and visits other American families at Panema, five miles 
away, where, among other homes, was the most advanced 
establishment of the colony, and which he thus describes : 
" The proprietor was a Methodist clergyman in Mis- 
sissippi ; like many of his class, he had a ready capability 
for all kinds of work ; was, in fact, the very best man that 
could be chosen for a pioneer. Moreover, he had a little 
money to start with, and two stout boys to assist him in 
his work ; he was sensible enough to choose a most desir- 
able location, where the land was rich, and there was 
abundant water-power. With these advantages, he has 
advanced steadily. At first he was content to live in a 
log-house, and work with such machinery as he could get 
in the country ; when his plantation was well advanced, 
and he thoroughly understood his needs, he made a trip 
to the United States expressly for the purpose of bringing 
out machinery and tools. One of these importations was 
a saw-mill ; with this he sawed out boards and beams for 
a good frame house, and a great deal for sale besides ; he 
has built mills for grinding corn, thrashing rice, cutting 



292 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



cane-tops for his cattle; a blacksmith - shop, very well 
equipped; a fine cane-mill, and evaporators for sugar. 
He has reason to look forward with hope to the future. 

" This man and Mr. K , at Diamantina, are the 

only ones in the colony who have achieved anything like 
success. But they came alone, chose their ground care- 
fully, and worked carefully with a fixed end in view ; and, 
having capital in the outset, they were independent of the 
traders, and could get a good price for their produce. . . • 
The Americans at Diamantina and Panema are generally 
discontented with their lot, and no wonder ; they began 
work without capital, or with very little, and they have 
been struggling all along for a bare existence. Their ex- 
ample shows plainly enough, I think, that the Amazon^ 
is not a good pioneering ground for a poor man. 5 ' 

Dr. Smith afterward speaks of the experience of Mr. 
E. J. Bhome, a practical American, who had a theory 
that the Amazonian highlands were fitted for successful 
farming. He took the managing partnership of a Bra- 
zilian plantation, twenty miles below Santarem, and put 
his theory into practice. " At the end of twelve years the 
estate has become the finest on the Amazon, and Ameri- 
can enterprise has built up an American home." 

Dr. Smith shows that the gatherers of Brazil-nuts in 
the Amazon Yalley suffer a great deal of sickness from 
their exposure and poor diet. But there are direct perils 
also : 

" Sometimes the gatherers are lost in the woods ; some- 
times canoes, loaded with nuts, are overturned in the rap- 
ids, and the boatmen are drowned. But the grand danger 
— the one most dreaded — is that of the falling nut-cap- 
sules. They are five inches in diameter, and weigh two 
or three pounds; falling a hundred feet or more, they 



THE AMAZON VALLEY. 



293 



come crashing through the branches like cannon-balls. 
The gatherers keep to their huts while the morning wind 
is blowing, and if their roof is at all exposed it is inclined 
strongly, so that the fruits will glance off from it. While 
the fruits are falling, the gatherers occupy themselves at 
home, cutting open the hard cases with their heavy knives, 
and drying the nuts in the sun. "When the wind dies 
away, men and women sally out to the gathering, bringing 
the nuts on their backs in great baskets." 

It is true the trade of the Amazon Yalley has rapidly 
increased within the past few years, but it has not been 
such a development as makes a very good showing for the 
country, since the principal article of this commerce — 
rubber — has been produced at the cost of the natural 
wealth of the forest ; being much on the same principle 
in which lumber is produced from our pine-forests in the 
United States, with total disregard of regrowth and the 
future. For the proper development of the Amazon Yal- 
ley there are needed just what is required in the other 
large unoccupied areas of Brazil — people and capital. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



BEASTS OF PREY. 

Of all tlie beasts of prey in Brazil, the most formida- 
ble and the most common is the jaguar, or South American 
tiger, called in Brazil the onga. - There are three kinds — 
red, spotted, and black, the last two kinds being the 
largest. This animal does not stand as high as the Asiatic 
tiger, but is very powerfully built, and carries off cattle. 
The length of a large specimen is from six to seven feet, 
but an ordinary one measures about four feet from the 
nose to the root of the tail, " Its manner of killing its 
victim is, after springing upon it, to strike it to the earth 
by a blow of its powerful paw." It seldom attacks human 
beings, unless interfered with or wounded; and I have 
seen people who had seen an onga in the forest, and who 
said they were not afraid of meeting one. 

The spotted onga is handsomely marked, and the skin 
of one sells at Rio for ten dollars. The English natural- 
ist Wallace, while out alone with his rifle in the forest 
solitude of the Amazon, saw a black onga cross his path a 
little way ahead of him, walking leisurely along. The 
animal stopped a few moments and looked at him ; and 
Mr. "Wallace, who was an excellent shot, relates that he 
was so astonished and impressed by the magnificence of 
the beast that he never thought to fire at him, and, while 
he stood fixed in admiration, the onga disappeared. 



BEASTS OF PREY. 



295 



The few anecdotes I have heard of the Brazilian onga 
are not, I am happy to say, of a very thrilling character. 
Some of them are ludicrous rather than dreadful. A 
queer experience with an onga is related of one of the 
American settlers on the forest shore of the big lake of 
Juparana, in the province of Espirito Santo. The man 
lived alone, two miles from any neighbor, in a small cabin, 
having an open doorway, but no door. One night he was 
awakened from sleep by what he thought were the foot- 
steps of some person ; and, getting up and going to his 
open doorway to see w T ho could be making him a visit at 
that time of night, lo and behold! there was an onga 
standing opposite the entrance and looking toward him. 
He was greatly alarmed, for he had no weapon of defense, 
and there was nothing to prevent the prowling intruder 
attacking him. He had an axe, but it was out in the shed, 
and he did not dare to step beyond the threshold. The 
only thing he could think of for safety was to seize a tin 
pan, which happened to be among his household utensils, 
and climb aloft on one of the timbers of his cabin, and 
scare off the onga by beating the pan. He kept beating 
the tin pan till daylight, w T hen he cautiously descended 
and looked about. The onga had disappeared, and, so far 
as is known, never came back. 

I once asked an English civil engineer who had re- 
sided twenty-three years in Brazil, and had been a good 
deal through the country exploring railway routes, if he 
had ever come across an onga. "No," said he, "never. 
The onga is a humbug. I should have no fear of one. 
It is no bigger than a calf, and I consider it a humbug. 
I have traveled thousands of miles- in Brazil, and never 
carried and never needed a weapon." 

While examining with Dr. Herbert Smith his large 



296 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



and new natural history collection from Matto-Grosso at 
the National Museum of Eio de Janeiro, and, among other 
things, the skull of an onga, which indicated a powerful 
animal, he told me that the onga in question, before being 
taken, had killed two dogs, and said the instinct of the 
beast was to seize his victim by the throat. I naturally 
inquired if he would be apt to attack a man in that way, 
and was informed that the onga, in fighting a human 
being, would first try to deal a knock-down blow on the 
head with his paw. He mentioned this case, which came 
under his knowledge : A man was attacked by an onga, 
and had only a knife for a weapon. He, however, wore 
a pretty thick and strong leather pouch or bag, and had 
the presence of mind to put his hand into this, and with 
it, thus protected, to thrust it into the onga's mouth. 
While the beast was trying in vain to bite through it, the 
man dispatched him with his knife, but got some bad 
scratches on his breast. 

A Brazilian, living about sixty miles from Eio, was 
in the woods with his gun not long ago, and was startled 
by a noise and growl which he supposed were from an onga 
close by him. He was frightened almost out of his wits, but 
braced himself against a tree, and brought his rifle to his 
shoulder to be ready to fire. In a moment more he saw 
that it was nothing more dangerous than half a dozen 
screeching monkeys in a furious chase up a tree, as badly 
frightened, perhaps, as he. 

Prof. Facchenetti, a landscape-painter of Eio, once, 
when up in the Organ Mountains alone, had just got his 
brushes out, ready to begin work, when his attention was 
arrested by the noise of a movement near him. Looking 
that way, he saw passing, as if on the scent of prey, a 
large and beautifully marked onga, which twice turned 



BEASTS OF PEEY. 



297 



its head to regard liim. He Lad no weapon, but simply- 
looked at the beast with an opera-glass, and he walked 
quietly off. 

A leading botanist, now at Rio, while on a scientific 
tour in the interior province of Minas-Geraes, accom- 
panied by a servant and a scientific assistant, camped one 
night in a sort of stone cave, having only a small opening. 
They brushed away the rubbish, among which were a few 
bones, and, as it was already night, the botanist, being 
tired, had lain down and was asleep. The assistant was 
in the act of making a cigarette, when suddenly he 
dropped it, threw up his hands, and gave a terrible cry 
of alarm* They had unconsciously appropriated to them- 
selves the den of this most dreadful wild beast, and he 
had come back, his eyes glaring fire, to his accustomed 
lodging. His appearance at the mouth of the cave caused 
the shriek which awakened the botanist and actually made 
the servant's hair to stand on end. He went off, however, 
yet every little while through the night they saw at the 
mouth of the cave a pair of eyes looking like balls of fire. 
They also heard his disagreeable growl while he was wan- 
dering about outside. They sat up every minute of the 
night, and kept up a blazing fire to frighten him away. 
Every time he appeared the servant's teeth chattered with 
fear. 

In the end of one of the streets of the village of Lin- 
hares, on the river Doce, province of Espirito Santo, an 
onga killed a horse only a few months ago. "Well, when 
an onga gets that near, he must be killed, or he will de- 
stroy all the live-stock; so a hunting-party was got to- 
gether, and went out and succeeded in killing the beast, 
but not till he had dispatched a score or so of venturesome 
dogs. An American planter, living in that vicinity, in- 



298 BRAZIL : ITS CONDITION" AND PROSPECTS. 



forms me that lie has seen several live ongas in the woods, 
and that there are three sorts in that region — the black, the 
spotted, and the red. It is his opinion that they do not 
attack a person unless they have been first interfered with 
or wounded. They seem to respect people who mind 
their own business. He related this anecdote : The farm- 
ers often have their poultry-yards robbed by opossums. 
One night a disturbance was heard among the fowls, and 
some of the people went out to see what was the matter. 
From all the sounds and appearances they were convinced 
there was an opossum in the yard, and they determined 
to wait there till daylight, and then administer summary 
justice for his depredations. At length dawn arrived. 
They opened the door and looked in, and, behold ! there 
was an onga, at sight of which they gave a scream and 
ran off. The onga escaped, though it was rather a small 
and young one. 

There is a man living in that neighborhood who car- 
ries on his back the scars left by the paw of an onga. In 
the woods he had shot at and wounded the animal, which 
went off. He followed it, thinking it would be dead; 
but it w r as alive and very mad, and turned and pursued 
the hunter, who took to a tree as fast as he could. The 
tree, however, was small, and bent down somewhat with 
his weight, so that the onga was able to reach him with 
his paw and deal him a bad scratch. The man, however, 
had a big hunting-knife in his belt, which he drew and 
gave the infuriated beast his quietus, otherwise the issue 
might have been fatal to himself. 

People do not hunt the onga for amusement, as a rule. 
They prefer to go a-gunning for almost any other sort 
of game. It is only when a planter or farmer has lost 
sheep after sheep, or other kinds of live-stock, and the 



BEASTS OF PKEY. 



299 



circumstances point about conclusively to the onga as the 
depredator, that he assembles his neighbors with their 
guns and dogs, and they all sally out to briug the dreaded 
beast to destruction. 

There are authentic instances of his attacking and kill- 
ing human beings. In the course of the past year an 
0115a was killed at the very door of the Superintendent 
of the Grao Para Colony, in the province of Santa 
Catharina. 

A newspaper in the south part of the province of 
Minas-Geraes recently published the following: u Traces 
of an onga having been noticed on a farm near Santo An- 
tonio do Machado, some hunters resolved to go in search 
of it. Meeting with her in the woods, one of the hunters, 
from fear or some other cause, attempted to climb a tree, 
when the onga sprang on him, catching him by the leg 
and then by the neck. The other hunters began to fire 
at the animal, which was enormous, and at last, giving it 
a mortal shot, caused it to spring up in the air, carrying 
with it the unhappy victim, falling down dead, and leav- 
ing the unfortunate man in a horrible state, with a great 
part of the scalp torn off, but still with life." 

With regard to serpents, the two larger kinds — the 
anaconda and the boa constrictor — are understood to exist 
only in the Amazon Valley. The last-mentioned is not 
regarded as dangerous, and is even sometimes domesti- 
cated for the purpose of keeping away vermin. An ac- 
quaintance informed me that during a tour in the back 
country he heard at night, in the unfinished ceiling of the 
room in which he lodged, a movement of things at differ- 
ent times, and when he awoke in the morning he found 
the noise had been caused by a domesticated boa con- 
strictor. 



300 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



Generally in Brazil there are several species of venom- 
ous serpents besides the rattlesnake. I am glad to say that 
I have had but little opportunity to extend my knowledge 
in this branch of natural history. From my little observa- 
tion I would think Brazil is no more troubled with the 
ordinary sorts of venomous snakes than most other new 
countries. The only incident under this head that has 
occurred in my experience — and perhaps it is not worth 
relating — was during our residence in the mountain sub- 
urb of Tijuca. About the middle of a warm sunny day I 
heard a shriek from the kitchen, and, on going to see 
what was the matter, I saw that a snake, about a yard 
long, had got into the entry through the open outside 
kitchen - door, and was about advancing with his head 
raised. From its brown and bright colors I instinctively 
felt that it was one of the venomous sort. He had paused 
for a moment, but then began to crawl farther along. At 
this I seized a broom and killed him by a blow or two with 
the handle, and got him out of the house as soon as possi- 
ble. An old resident pronounced him one of the venom- 
ous sort. 

Mr. Bates, in his valuable narrative of explorations in 
the Amazon Valley, " The Naturalist on the Amazons," 
gives some interesting anecdotes of the hideous anaconda. 
Describing an experience while on the Cupari River, a 
branch of the Tapajos, he writes : " We had an unwel- 
come visitor while at anchor in the port of Joao Mala- 
gueita. I was awoke a little after midnight, as I lay in my 
little cabin, by a heavy blow struck at the sides of the ca- 
noe close to my head, which was succeeded by the sound 
of a weighty body plunging in the water. I got up ; but 
all was again quiet, except the cackle of fowls in our hen- 
coop, which hung over the side of the vessel about three 



BEASTS OF PREY. 



301 



feet from the cabin-door. I could find no explanation of 
the circumstance, and, my men being all ashore, I turned 
in and slept till morning. I then found my poultry loose 
about the canoe, and a large rent in the bottom of the hen- 
coop, which was about two feet from the surface of the 
water ; a couple of fowls were missing. Senhor Antonio 
said the depredator was a sucuruju (the Indian name for 
the anaconda, or great water-serpent — Eunectes murinus), 
which had for months past been haunting this part of the 
river, and had carried off many ducks and fowls from the 
ports of various houses. I was inclined to doubt the fact 
of a serpent striking at its prey from the water, and 
thought an alligator more likely to be the culprit, al- 
though we had not yet met with alligators in the river. 
Some days afterward the young men belonging to the 
different siiios agreed to go in search of the serpent. They 
began in a systematic manner, forming two parties, each 
embarked in three or four canoes, and starting from points 
several miles apart, whence they gradually approximated, 
searching all the little inlets on both sides the river. The 
reptile was found at last sunning itself on a log at the 
mouth of a muddy rivulet, and dispatched with harpoons. 
I saw it the day after it was killed ; it was not a veiy 
large specimen, measuring only eighteen feet nine inches 
in length, and sixteen inches in circumference at the 
widest part of the body. I measured skins of the anaconda 
afterward twenty-one feet in length and two feet in girth. 
The reptile has a most hideous appearance, owing to its 
being very broad in the middle, and tapering abruptly at 
both ends. It is very abundant in some parts of the 
country ; nowhere more so than in the Lago Grande, near 
Santarem, where it is often seen coiled up in the corners 
of farm-yards, and detested for its habit of carrying off 
25 



302 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



poultry, young calves, or whatever animal it can get within 
reach of. 

" At Ega a large anaconda was once near making a 
meal of a young lad, about ten years of age, belonging to 
one of my neighbors. The father and his son went one 
day in their montaria a few miles up the Teffe to gather 
wild fruit, landing on a sloping sandy shore, where the 
boy was left to mind the canoe while the man entered the 
forest. The beaches of the Teffe form groves of wild 
guava and myrtle-trees, and during most months of the 
year are partly overflown by the river. While the boy 
was playing in the water under the shade of these trees, a 
huge reptile of this species stealthily wound its coils around 
him unperceived, until it was too late to escape. His cries 
quickly brought the father to the rescue, who rushed for- 
ward, and, seizing the anaconda boldly by the head, tore 
his jaws asunder. There appears to be no doubt that this 
formidable serpent grows to an enormous bulk and lives 
to a great age, for I heard of specimens having been killed 
which measured forty-two feet in length, or double the 
size of the largest I had an opportunity of examining. 
The natives of the Amazon country universally believe in 
the existence of a monster water-serpent said to be many 
score fathoms in length, which appears successively in 
different parts of the river. They call it the IM^ai d'agoa 
— the mother or spirit of the water. This fable, which 
was doubtless suggested by the occasional appearance of 
suourujus of unusually large size, takes a great variety of 
forms, and the wild legends form the subject of conversa- 
tion among old and young over the wood-fires in lonely 
settlements. 5 ' 

Mr. Bates had this experience with a boa constrictor : 
" One day, as I was entomologizing alone and unarmed, in 



BEASTS OF PREY. 



303 



a dry ygapo, where the trees were rather wide apart and 
the ground coated to the depth of eight or ten inches with 
dead leaves, I was near coming into collision with a boa 
constrictor. I had just entered a little thicket to capture 
an insect, and while pinning it was rather startled by a 
rushing noise in the vicinity. I looked up to the sky, 
thinking a squall was coming on, but not a breath of wind 
stirred in the tree-tops. On stepping out of the bushes I 
met face to face a huge serpent coming down a slope, and 
making the dry twigs crack and fly with his weight as he 
moved over them. I had very frequently met with a 
smaller boa, the cutim-loia, in a similar way, and knew 
from the habits of the family that there was no danger ; 
so I stood my ground. On seeing me the reptile suddenly 
turned and glided at an accelerated pace down the path. 
Wishing to take a note of his probable size, and the colors 
and markings of his skin, I set off after him ; but he in- 
creased his speed, and I was unable to get near enough 
for the purpose. There was very little of the serpentine 
movement in his course. The rapidly moving and shining 
body looked like a stream of brown liquid flowing over 
the thick bed of fallen leaves, rather than a serpent with 
skin of varied colors. He descended toward the lower 
and moister parts of the ygapo. The huge trunk of an 
uprooted tree here lay across the road ; this he glided over 
in his undeviating course, and soon after penetrated a 
dense, swampy thicket, where, of course, I did not choose 
to follow him." 

The author of " Pioneering in South Brazil" relates 
this anecdote, showing the usefulness of the toucan in giv- 
ing the alarm against snakes : " One evening a camarada 
came to me to have a tooth extracted, but, as it was then 
dusk, I told him he must wait till the following day, 



304 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



when, if he would come to me directly it was light, I 
would do what he wanted. I was kept awake most of the 
night by being pestered by fleas, with which the camp 
had at this time begun to swarm. When morning came, 
being then almost worn out by many nights of sleepless- 
ness from the same cause, I was in a state of torpor, and 
had not aroused myself as usual immediately it became 
light. The man with toothache came three times, at in- 
tervals of about ten minutes, and found me asleep each 
time. A minute after, coming the third time, he heard 
the toucan screaming in my rancho, and thinking I was 
the cause, and that he should now find me awake and up, 
at once returned, only too anxious to have his toothache 
cured without more delay. I was not awake when he 
returned, but his vigorous shout of ' Doutor, doutor, co- 
bra ! 5 (' Doctor, doctor, snake ! ? ) twice repeated, roused 
me to a certain state of consciousness — when, on opening 
my eyes, the first thing I saw were two young frogs jump- 
ing in a great hurry along the floor of the rancho, closely 
followed by a black snake. The spectacle, for the two sec- 
onds during which it lasted, was superb. The snake was 
evidently absorbed in the chase, oblivious to the sudden 
shout of the man, or the screaming of the toucan. Its eye 
was flashing like a diamond, and its long, forked tongue 
was shooting in and out with lightning rapidity, as, with 
head erect and held perfectly steady, it glided with a swift, 
rocking motion of its supple body in pursuit, seeming as 
though moved by some invisible, magic force. For these 
two seconds the picture was absolutely perfect. I had 
never beheld so fascinating an object, when, lo ! just as I 
expected to see it strike one of the frogs, a big, rude paddle 
descended upon its back, and only a hideous writhing object 
remained, biting the dust in agony. I was quite angry 



BEASTS OF PREY. 



305 



with the man for the moment for summarily spoiling the 
chase ; but when I knew that the reptile, to whose exist- 
ence he had thus put an end, was only less deadly than 
the cascavel, and withal far more active in its movements, 
I lost my momentary sympathy for it. In this case, if it 
had not been for the toucan in the first instance, the snake 
might have remained lurking about my rancho beneath the 
boxes with which it was filled for days, until perhaps its 
presence had been made known after the disagreeable 
manner of Morant 5 s snake. 

" The Brazilians say that there is a certain snake which 
they call cobra casada, or married snake, which it is dan- 
gerous to kill near any habitation ; or, having killed it, to 
trail it along the ground to any house, because its mate is 
certain to follow it by scent, and, on finding it dead, will 
savagely attack any person it can find in the neighbor- 
hood. I do not know what foundation there is for this 
story. I should think that I have seen and myself killed 
at least a hundred snakes of various lands in Brazil, but I 
never knew one that showed any disposition to willfully 
attack. The utmost any have done has been to remain 
still, in readiness to strike when touched or threatened. 
In the majority of instances they have tried to flee. 

" Soon after this I had a very disagreeable rencontre 
with a jararaca, which dropped into my canoe from an 
overhanging branch as I was paddling gently up-stream 
under the bank. As the snake dropped in, I tumbled out 
into the river. Fortunately, it happened close to the camp, 
and, in answer to my shouts, somebody came down to the 
landing-place and captured the canoe as it was drifting 
past, and killed the snake." 

The adventure of Morant, which he refers to, occurred 
two hundred miles distant, and is thus related : " It ap« 



306 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS, 



peared that one night, after lie and his tent-companion, 
Von Sydow, had retired to bed, the latter was aronsed by 
feeling, as he thought, some animal sucking his finger. 
He drew his hand away, and then struck a light, to find 
out what it might be that had taken such a fancy to him, 
but could see nothing. Meanwhile Morant was lying 
asleep on his low camp-bed at the other end of the tent, 
about ten feet distant. The night being very warm, and 
there being no mosquitoes to guard against, he was lying 
with one arm and shoulder nude above the blanket. The 
constant movements of Yon Sydow, who was doctoring 
his sucked finger, at length caused him to arouse himself 
slightly, but just sufficient to make him conscious that 
there was something wrong about him. ' I felt,' he said, 
6 something heavy on my chest, and cold around my arm ; 
I opened my eyes, and, by the light that Sydow was 
using, to my intense horror and dismay beheld a long 
head and neck waving backward and forward a few inches 
above my face. It was a snake. I dared not stir, for I 
felt that its body was twined round my arm, and that the 
slightest motion on my part might cause the reptile to 
drive its fangs into me. I called out gently to Sydow, 
and said, ' Sydow, there is a snake on my arm — what is 
to be done ? ' Sydow answered, 4 Yes, yes ! ya, ya ! very 
good, 5 as though he thought it an excellent joke ; and I 
knew that he did not understand me, but probably im- 
agined that I was talking about his finger. (Yon Sydow 
was a Swede, and only knew a few words of English.) 
I spoke to him again and said, 6 Sydow, snake, snake ! 5 
but he did not understand me, and only laughed, and an- 
swered, 6 Ya, ya ! ' I did not dare to shout out loud for 
fear of exciting the snake, which was still gently waving 
its head before my face. Something had to be done, and 



BEASTS OF PREY. 



307 



that very soon, for no mortal could long bear this agony 
of suspense. 

" The moment came when I could restrain myself no 
longer. I jumped up in bed, and simultaneously, with all 
the force of long-restrained fear and horror, threw out my 
arm, with the cold, deadly folds of the snake still twined 
round it, hurling the reptile violently on to the ground 
by the suddenness and energy of the movement, before it 
had time to strike. 

" While I was looking for a weapon of some sort with 
which to kill it, it had glided out beneath the wall of the 
tent and disappeared. . . . 

" Von Sydow to this hour believes that Morant's snake 
was the very animal that sucked his finger. 55 

The same author relates several other anecdotes, but 
says the number of snakes found on the prairie — where 
this last incident occurred — is small when compared with 
the multitudes which exist in the forests. It was in the 
forest that he was employed, and scarcely a day passed 
without what might be termed a snake adventure happen- 
ing to some one of the party. 



CHAPTEE XYIII. 

SLAVEEY AND EMANCIPATION". 

The first and greatest sugar-growing region of Brazil, 
Pernambuco, is exactly opposite the valley of the Congo ; 
the mouth of the Amazon is opposite that of the Niger. 
"With Africa thus so handy, it is no wonder the early 
planters in Brazil availed themselves of Ethiopian labor, 
and that the slave-trade soon grew into a profitable and 
persistent business. Immediately after Portugal's recog- 
nition of the independence of Brazil in 1826, a treaty 
was made between Great Britain and Brazil for the sup- 
pression of the slave-trade ; however, in those times and 
for many years afterward, the influence of the slavehold- 
ing class in Brazil was powerful enough to counteract the 
wishes of any humane magistrate or statesman in that 
country who may have urged the enforcement of that 
treaty, and the slave-trade continued to flourish. Mr. 
Christie, a former British minister in Brazil, in his " Notes 
on Brazilian Questions," published in 1865, says of the 
action of the Government : " Left to itself, it did nothing ; 
it treated for a long time with neglect representations of 
the English Government ; it did not answer notes. When 
obliged to reply, it protested that its dignity did not allow 
it to act while pressed by a foreign government ; it re- 
sented interference, and clamored to be left free to exe- 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION". 309 



cute its own laws, forgetting that treaty stipulations gave 
a right to England to interfere. At last, after force had 
been used, and the English Government was known to be 
serious, and there seemed no help for it, it has done what 
it ought to have done long before." Speaking of the ac- 
tion of the Brazilian authorities in regard to the treaty 
for the suppression of the slave-trade, Lord Aberdeen, in 
1845, said, " With rare exceptions the treaty has been by 
them systematically violated from the period of its con- 
clusion to the present time." At that time the clandes- 
tine importation of African slaves into Brazil was esti- 
mated at seventy thousand annually, of whom, no doubt, 
some are still toiling on plantations. Mr. Christie states 
that it was estimated that a million slaves had been im- 
ported since the formal abolition of the trade by treaty. 

J ohn Candler and Wilson Burgess, members of the 
Society of Friends, went from England to Rio de J aneiro, 
in 1852, with an address to the Emperor, and on their 
return from Brazil they wrote : " The late conduct of 
Great Britain in chasing slavers into the harbors of Brazil, 
and making seizures of them under its very forts, has con- 
tributed mainly to stimulate the Government of Brazil to 
put down the African slave-trade in that country. It 
deeply wounded the pride of the nation to see its past 
insincerity and bad faith thus exposed before the whole 
world ; the Emperor, therefore, resolved to take the mat- 
ter at once into his own hands, and by bold measures to 
crush the traffic." So the dispatch of Mr. Henry South- 
ern, the British diplomatic representative in Brazil, of 
May 10, 1852, shows the admission of the Brazilian Min- 
ister of Foreign Affairs that it was the compulsory meas- 
ures of Great Britain which enabled the Brazilian Cabinet 
to influence their countrymen in co-operating to support. 



310 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



or, at least, in not opposing, measures to put down the 
slave-trade. 

In a letter of the distinguished Brazilian, Mr. Joaquim 
Nabuco, who has spent several years in England, and who 
received very strong support as candidate for deputy in 
his native city, Pernambuco, published September 11, 
1884, he says: "The Conservative opposition now de- 
nounce the Emperor as the chief of the abolition propa- J 
ganda, ascribe the Dantas project to the pressure of the j 
Emperor, and endeavor by every means to identify him 
with abolitionism. Some of the Republicans— I say some, 
because the Republican party is to-day divided on the 
question of emancipation — declare that the Conservatives 
are serving the republic by their attacks upon the mon- 
archy. . . . There is no doubt but that from 1840 to 1850 
the Emperor struggled constantly for the suppression of | 
the slave-trade, encountering the greatest resistance ; that 
from 1865 to 1871 he made great efforts for the freedom j 
of the future offspring of slave mothers ; and, finally, that j 
in 1884 he resolutely decided on the liberation of slaves 
of sixty years of age and upward, and of others by means I 
of emancipation. But this will not compare for example 
with the act of Alexander II. Dom Pedro II has reigned 
forty-four years, and the capital of the empire which boasts 
of being the first city in South America is yet a slave- I 
market." 

Slavery having existed, as it still does, in all latitudes 
of Brazil, it has never occasioned that bitter local or sec- 
tional feeling which it caused in the United States. It , 
could, therefore, have scarcely led to such a catastrophe j 
as it produced in our country. Still, the Brazilians, in 
- taking steps for emancipation, were probably somewhat I 
influenced by American experience, as well as by the 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 311 



reprobation of mankind, the steady and industrious be- 
havior of the freed people in the United States affording 
an especially powerful argument in favor of liberation. 
And, it appears to me, the Brazilians are entitled to praise 
for wise statesmanship in having solved their slavery 
problem in a peaceful manner, even though their system 
of emancipation is slow. 

The one important feature of the Emancipation Act 
of Brazil of September 28, 1871 — sometimes called the 
Bio Branco law, from the name of the prime minister of 
the time — is the provision that all children born of slave 
mothers after the passage of that act shall become free 
on attaining the age of twenty-one years. A few hundred 
slaves belonging to the Crown were declared free ; but 
the great mass of slaves born previous to September 28, 
1871, were left in bondage. However, the act made some 
provision for a fund for the purchase and liberation of 
slaves. It provided that the tax on slaves, the tax on 
their sale or bequest, the proceeds of certain lotteries, the 
fines collected under the act, together with public appro- 
priations and private donations, should constitute an 
emancipation fund, to be duly apportioned among the 
several provinces. The whole amount raised from these 
sources since the passage of the act has been, in round 
numbers, six and a half million dollars. By it some 
20,000 slaves had been purchased and set free up to 1885, 
being at an average price for each one of three hundred 
and twenty-five dollars. It is estimated that from 80,000 
to 100,000 have also been set free by private emancipa- 
tion in the same time ; also that 200,000 have died, mak- 
ing a decrease of about 320,000 in the number of slaves 
since the passage of the law. The number of slaves in 
Brazil, September 30, 1873, according to the registration 



312 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION* AND PKOSPECTS. 



which was then assumed to be complete, was 1,540,796, 
so that the number now in the empire must be fully j 
1,200,000. Private emancipation is a matter of frequent 
occurrence all over the country, and is apparently encour- 
aged by the popular sympathy. Indeed, in some locali- 
ties the cause has advanced with enthusiasm. Especially 
in the early part of 1884, say in March, there was a strong 
anti-slavery agitation, resulting in the formal declaration j 
of liberation in two of the northern provinces — Amazonas 
and Ceara. However, a senator has lately declared that 
slaves are still held in both those provinces, and I have 
myself had misgivings as to whether abolition or emanci- 
pation had been fully carried out there. In Rio de Ja- 
neiro mass-meetings and fairs were held, eloquent speeches 
delivered, streets were decorated, and other displays made 
in behalf of the abolition movement, which seemed to 
have the support of a considerable portion of the influen- 
tial classes. Still, it must be remembered that there are 
over a million slaves in the empire, the most of whom 
are tenaciously held in the richest agricultural districts. 

In regard to the children born of slave mothers after 
September 28, 1871, and who, by the terms of the law, 
are absolutely free at the age of twenty-one years, it may 
be supposed that such jealous and rigorous means of iden- 
tity have been thrown around them that they will be able 
effectually to claim their liberty on the very day of their 
majority. As a means, and the only means, to this end, 
the Emancipation Act provides that they should all be 
registered in books kept by the parish priests. It must 
occasion regret to know that the work does not appear to 
have been very carefully attended to. The Minister and 
Secretary of State for the Department of Agriculture, Com- 
merce, and Public Works, in his annual report, dated May 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION, 313 



10, 1883, stated that the returns scarcely showed with 
certainty that, :n the city of Rio de Janeiro and in thir- 
teen provinces, on June 30, 1882, the number of children 
who had been born of slave mothers since September 28, 
1871, was 173,776. Returns in respect of such minors 
were wholly wanting from seven provinces, including the 
three large and populous agricultural provinces of Bahia, 
Sao Paulo, and Minas-Geraes. 

On large and rich plantations, where there are several 
hundred slaves, the organization, discipline, and treatment 
in every way are likely to be much better than on planta- 
tions where there are but few. On plantations having, 
say, twenty slaves or thereabout, one will sometimes see 
them hurried in their steps and work by pricking them 
with a long stick having a sharp-pointed iron in one end 
of it. Women as well as men are to-day goaded like 
beasts on many Brazilian plantations. Flogging is a very 
frequent method of enforcing discipline. Indeed, in early 
times flogging seems to have been a pretty general system 
of punishment. Once a Brazilian offender claimed to be 
exempt from it from being half hidalgo ; but the magis- 
trate ordered half his body to be flogged, and left him to 
determine which half was hidalgo ! 

A recent authoritative and fair account of slavery as 
it now exists in Brazil is contained in the speech in the 
Brazilian Senate, which was delivered June 9, 1884, by 
Senator Ottoni, an old statesman representing in part the 
great province of Minas-Geraes, and who is distinguished 
for the independence and candor of his views : 

"Ever since this question has become somewhat 
heated," said he, " I have constantly heard the stanchest 
supporters of slavery say, 'I, too, am an emancipator.' 
"Who is not? "We all are. But, when any measure is 
27 



314: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



mentioned, they say, ' Not that, because the planters can 
not bear it.' They want emancipation, they say, yet no 
efficacious step in this direction pleases them. They only 
want a drawling progress — I am wrong ; they want the 
mystification of the Emancipation Act of September 28, 
1871. According to the progression with which we are 
executing that law as it stands, the real emancipator is 
Death. There have died, since 1871, at least some half- 
million of slaves, while in the same period the state has 
emancipated less than twenty thousand. Let us calculate 
the end of slavery according to the present state of things. 
The youngest slaves are those born in 1871 prior to the 
passing of the law ; many of these will attain to eighty 
years of age, some even to one hundred, but let us say 
eighty years of age ; and thus only in 1950, the very mid- 
dle of the twentieth century, will Death complete his 
work. This state of things is unworthy of a civilized 
nation. ... I know not if I am a pessimist — God grant 
that I may be ! God grant that I may be a simple vision- 
ary ! — but the present state of the Brazilian nation appears 
to me critical and beset with dangers. Certain events are 
taking place around us which, in my opinion, are imperil- 
ing public peace, tending to thwart the execution of the 
laws, annulling the action of our tribunals, and are on the 
high-road to establish a ferocious and bloody anarchy. 
First, then, the effronteries and crimes committed by the 
slaves against their masters, overseers, and drivers have 
multiplied deplorably and with disquieting frequency of 
late years. It is a lamentable fact which ought to be 
studied by the authorities. "When attention was called 
to this fact in the lower house, it was answered that it j 
was nothing new, that such had always been the case ; but 1 
that answer, if sincere, showed very little reflection. What J 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 



315 



we are witnessing now has never been seen before. The 
few crimes of this kind, committed at long intervals, did 
not present the serious characteristics which distinguish 
these crimes now. Formerly, the criminal fled, or he 
denied the fact, or he tried to escape the penalty of the 
law ; now, however, he murders, and goes immediately to 
the authorities and delivers himself up, saying, We have 
committed a murder ; we want to be punished. It is this 
which increases the gravity of the situation. I, Mr. Presi- 
dent, have completed my seventy-third year; for more 
than half a century I have had the full use of my facul- 
ties. I see, I hear, I observe, and I can bear witness that 
the treatment of slaves in Brazil has gone on steadily im- 
proving. 

" Before the slave-trade was abolished, and while the 
slavers were deluging our shores with legions of dull- 
witted Africans, who were bought for a mere song, the 
slave-owners generally were careless of the duration of 
the lives of their slaves ; even those (and they happily 
constituted the majority) who were incapable of ill-treat- 
ing them, or of cruelly punishing them, even they reck- 
lessly sacrificed the life of the slave to excess of work. 
There were twelve or fourteen hours of severe labor in 
sun and rain ; there were still two hours at night in culti- 
vating cereals for their own food and that of the domestic 
animals ; and there was in addition an hour at daybreak 
in cleaning up the drying-ground ready for the coffee — 
making fifteen or sixteen hours of grinding toil, which no 
constitution can stand. And to this must be added in- 
sufficient or inadequate food, and for clothing something 
just short of absolute nakedness. 

" It was commonly held among the slaveholders, and 
I have heard it from many, that the net proceeds of the 



316 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



first year's labor of a slave were at least enough to cover 
his cost ; that the second and following years were clear 
profit. Why, then, said they, should we bother ourselves 
about them, when we can so easily get fresh ones at such 
a low price ? But when the slave-trade was extinguished 
the price of the slave advanced, and his treatment began 
at once to be more humane. The cholera, which deci- 
mated the slave population, resulted in vastly improving 
his treatment, his dwelling, his clothing, in his being 
withdrawn from the field in wet weather, etc. ; and the 
law of the 28th of September still further improved his 
condition. To-day there is no question that the condition 
of the Brazilian slave is no whit inferior to that of the la- 
borer in the great nations of Europe ; and yet, at the very 
time that his condition has been so immensely improved, 
his irritability and ferocity are on the increase — facts well 
worthy the attention of all those who bestow a thought on 
the future of this country. 

" But, parallel to these facts, there are arising others 
equally lamentable, still more reprehensible, for they are 
committed by free men. I refer to the expulsion from 
their domicile of those judges who have given certain de- 
cisions, by individuals collected and armed, and who have 
been called the populace. I refer to the expulsion of ad- 
vocates who petition the courts for the judicial freedom 
of a slave ; and, on a par with these still more astounding 
abuses, the invasion of the jails, and the forcible with- 
drawal of criminals, who are hacked to pieces in the pub- 
lic square. And, what is most alarming, is the silence 
preserved about each one of these facts ! To the expelled 
judge the Government gives another district ; as to the 
citizens violently assailed in their rights, they are left to 
settle those matters among themselves; and no one has 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 



317 



yet heard say that the author or authors of a single one of 
these attacks on jails and of murders of prisoners had been 
discovered — people content themselves with saying, ' It is 
lynch law.' 

" Among the planters of a large part of the south of 
the empire there is a wide-spread compact to bring press- 
ure upon the jury to acquit slave offenders so they may 
be handed over to their owners, who naturally administer 
justice with their own hands. That this is the general 
inclination among the coffee-planters I know for a fact. 

"There are yet other symptoms which are equally 
serious. Let the Senate just mark the line which is being 
followed by the planters' clubs founded in nearly all the 
municipalities of the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Minas, 
and Sao Paulo. The statutes of some clubs contain arti- 
cles which imply that they are constituting themselves an 
imperium in imperio, completely eliminating the appli- 
cation of the laws and the action of the authorities. . . . 
One great reason the planters give for taking such steps 
for their mutual protection is the failure of the Govern- 
ment to execute the death-penalty for high crimes com- 
mitted by slaves. But the gallows is no remedy for the 
state of things which I have described to the Senate; 
what we have to do is to clear up the point to our coun- 
trymen, and leave the Crown free to exercise the power 
conferred upon it by the Constitution. . . . 

66 For five years, from 1866 to 1871, the promise of the 
freedom of the wretched slaves, like a ray of sunlight^ 
penetrated from the throne to every corner of the empire. 
We all remember the journeys into the interior which the 
chief of state made at that time, and how, if it was not a 
working-day, the slaves lined the road on both sides, and 
on their knees blessed their redeemer as he passed. The 



318 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



five years of these golden hopes passed, the hour of their 
realization arrived in the law of the 28th of September, 
and the undeceiving of these poor wretches was sad and 
complete. The law declared that those who should be 
born thenceforward should be free, but as a fact it made 
no such provision, for it left them in bondage until they 
were twenty-one years of age. Still, it at least assured 
them of freedom on their attaining their majority. But 
what did it do for the existing generation ? It spoke of 
their gradual emancipation in such terms as we are accus- 
tomed to describe as 'j?ara Inglez ver ' " (for the English j 
to see). 

Mr. Da Motta : " They were hoodwinked." 

Mr. Jaguaribe : " It is the administrators of the law 
who have not carried it out ; that's what's the matter." 

Mr. Ottoni : " No, sir ; it comes from the law and its 
administrators." 

Mr. Da Motta : " Hear, hear ! " 

Mr. Jaguaribe : " The law was the thin end of the 
wedge ; and, had it not been for that, there would be no 
propaganda to-day." 

Mr. Ottoni : " The report of the Minister of Agri- 
culture for the present year only too justly laments that 
the state has succeeded in emancipating only nineteen j 
thousand slaves, when during the same period there have 
died, according to the report, one hundred and ninety-one 
thousand. But far greater would be the regret and the 
disappointment of the noble ex-Minister of Agriculture 
were he to reflect that the figures of this part of his report 
are notoriously and willfully false ! " 

Mr. Da Motta : " Hear, hear ! " 

Mr. Ottoni : " Notoriously and willfully false, as has 
already been proved in the Legislative Assembly, without 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 319 



any steps haying been taken in consequence ! These fig- 
ures would give, calculated progressively, an annual death- 
rate of a little over one per cent, barely one and a quarter 
per cent. Now, I will venture to say that no nucleus of 
population in the whole world, even of free men, shows 
so low a death-rate ; it is everywhere over two per cent. 
Besides, who does not know that the deaths of the planta- 
tion slaves are never registered ? Who is there that is ig- 
norant that the planters of a certain class have cemeteries 
on their estates, where they bury the corpses of their slaves 
without holding themselves accountable to any one, and 
without any oversight on the part of the authorities ? 

" The regulations for the execution of the law of the 
28th of September require that notice shall be given of 
the deaths of the registered slaves, and impose fines for 
non-compliance ; but the required notice is never given, 
and no fine has ever been inflicted yet. And here is the 
proper place for me to reply to the noble senator who 
just now interrupted me : the executors execute ill what- 
ever is mischievous in the law, and destroy all the good 
that it may contain. The result is, that while the state 
emancipates nineteen thousand slaves, death liberates half 
a million probably — some four or five hundred thousand, 
perhaps. . . . 

" I am an emancipationist, but profoundly discontented 
with everything that has been done, and still more so 
with the obstinacy which wants to do nothing in the direc- 
tion of developing this principle. The result of this dis- 
content must necessarily be the going over to abolition. 
I regret, as I have already stated, this tendency ; but I 
wish still to hope on, especially after hearing the promises 
made by the ministry. ... It is to be presumed that any 
radical measure which it may propose in this direction 



320 BKAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



will meet with the assent of the majority of the Chamber. 
Should such, however, not be the case, it would be a glori- 
ous mission for the ministry to present its radical measure, 
and to dissolve the Chamber for that reason ; thus facili- 
tating the organization of the two parties — emancipation- 
ist and pro-slavery — the only two which have any right to 
exist at the present time.' 5 

The Cabinet of Senator Dantas, including much of 
the best talent and parliamentary influence of the Liberal 
party, and a chief of undoubted capacity for government, 
came into office June 5, 1884, for the purpose of carrying 
through some further measure of emancipation. On the 
15th of July following, the long-looked for plan was pre- 
sented in the Chamber of Deputies by a member from 
Bahia, Mr. Eodolpho Dantas, a son of the prime minister. 
The main provisions of the bill were, that slaves who 
have attained or shall attain the age of sixty years are de- 
clared free, without pay to their owners ; a new registra- 
tion was to be made, and a tax of five per cent on all 
slaves, according to a specified valuation, collected for an 
emancipation fund. 

Mr. Penido, Liberal, submitted this motion: "The 
Chamber, disapproviug the Government bill on slavery, 
denies its confidence to the Government," which was 
adopted by fifty-nine votes for it to fifty-two against it. 

The ministry then decided, with the Emperor's ap- 
proval, on appealing to the country, if the right of suffrage * 
of two hundred and fifty thousand in a population of thir- 
teen million can be so called. A dissolution of the Cham- 
ber, whose term of four years was nearly up anyhow, was 
decreed; but meantime the General Assembly devoted 
its attention to the appropriation bills. 

On the 20th of March the prime minister, Mr. Dantas, 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 321 



had delivered a speech in the Senate principally with 
reference to his scheme of emancipation, but in which, 
from the turn of the previous discussion, he was diverted 
into a number of topics. In the course of his speech he 
said that, while twenty thousand slaves had been freed 
by the emancipation fund, some three hundred thousand 
had been emancipated by death since the act of Septem- 
ber 28, 1871. 

The following is a speech which he did not deliver : 
" Mr. President, the Prince of "Wales, as presiding officer 
of a public meeting in London in August last, delivered 
an address, in which he said : 6 Then, as to Brazil, you are 
probably aware that, while all the small republics of 
South America put an end to slavery when they ceased 
connection with Spain, Brazil alone retains the curse she 
inherited from her Portuguese rulers. At the present 
moment Brazil possesses nearly a million and a half of 
slaves on her vast plantations, many of whom lead a life 
worse than that of beasts of burden.' Our country is get- 
ting the ill-will of foreigners in consequence of slavery. 
Besides, there is an important anti-slavery sentiment in 
our own country which demands some additional and rea- 
sonable measure of emancipation. The business and in- 
dustrial interests of the country require that something 
be done to allay agitation and discontent. The plan of 
the ministry is to emancipate absolutely and without com- 
pensation to the owners all slaves who have reached the 
age of sixty years. Objection is made to this on the 
ground that it imposes on the slaveholder too great a 
sacrifice. "Well, it would be pleasant for the state to buy 
the freedom of these slaves if it could afford to do so. 
The state, however, is now so deeply in debt, and the 
currency so greatly depreciated, that it would not be pru- 



322 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



dent to increase the indebtedness for this object. To 
increase taxation would be equally objectionable, because 
taxes on imports and exports are now exceedingly high. 
Indeed, a part of the public financial burden was incurred 
for railroads and other improvements which, have en- 
hanced the value of plantations. Were it not for the very 
difficult financial situation of the country, we would all, 
I think, most cheerfully compensate the masters for every 
slave proposed to be liberated. 

" But, after all, is it much of a sacrifice for the owners 
to liberate without pay those slaves who are sixty years 
old ? In briefly considering this question, I do so with 
feelings of respect and kindness to the slaveholding 
planters, who, collectively, are as estimable a class of peo- 
ple as we have. Let us look at the matter in the light of 
the present day — and which, be assured, has penetrated 
to the cabin of the slave — as a simple question of labor 
and wages, devoid of sentiment and of traditional preju- 
dice. "We find, then, in our country a class of men and 
women of African descent, aged sixty years, who have 
been kept at compulsory labor for forty years without 
receiving wages. What have they earned ? What gain 
have the masters derived from their toil all these forty 
years ? If we can ascertain this, then we can better under- 
stand whether or not it will be a sacrifice for the masters 
now to terminate without indemnity this relation of com- 
pulsory labor without wages. The average wages of an 
agricultural laborer in Brazil have been one milreis per 
day ; and, in addition to the work he would do to earn this 
amount, he would perform the labor necessary to raise the 
subsistence for himself and family. The slave, fulfilling 
daily an allotted task, unquestionably has earned more 
than the average free laborer working for wages ; but, to 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 323 



be surely in the limits of moderation, let us assume that 
the average net earnings of a slave, male and female, have 
been only half a milreis a day, and that there have been 
in each year as many as eighty-five days in which he did 
not work. His net earnings, then, have amounted to one 
hundred and forty milreis (at present exchange, fifty-two 
dollars of United States money) per year. Since he was 
twenty years old, or during forty years, he has, at this 
rate, earned five thousand six hundred milreis. But, 
when he had finished twenty years' work, he had, at the 
same rate, earned half that amount — say, two thousand 
eight hundred milreis — which sum, if it had been put at 
interest, would have doubled in the next twenty years. 
Add this to his earnings, and we have eight thousand four 
hundred milreis (8,400$000 ; . in United States money, 
$3,108) as the net amount of what his master has de- 
rived from his labor during forty years, and at the time 
he has reached the age of sixty years at half a milreis a 
day. Twenty years ago the average value of a field-slave 
was fifteen hundred milreis, and forty years ago it was 
less. Even deduct from these net earnings the original 
cost of the slave, and interest thereon, and we see that the 
master can liberate him at the age of sixty, and still hold 
a very substantial balance of earnings in his hands. 

" Mr. President, the world moves. We live in a time 
when, by steam communication, telegraphs, and news- 
papers, thought travels rapidly. However illiterate the 
slave may be, he is not to-day ignorant of public senti- 
ment and of what is due to labor. I appeal to the plant- 
ers and their representatives to be wise in time, and to 
accept the proposition now offered. If they do not, who 
can guarantee that in the future they will receive one as 
favorable? The United States was a peace-loving and 



324: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



tranquil country, yet African slavery, just such as we 
have among us, threw it into a paroxysm of civil war 
which, during an entire generation, involved the slave- 
holders in distress, and in many instances caused their 
absolute ruin. Let us profit by their experience, and give 
some token that we respect the anti-slavery sentiment of 
our country." 

For several succeeding days one or two speeches a day 
on the slavery question were made by different senators, 
and of length sufficient to fill about a whole page of the 
big "Jornal do Commercio," but, as a rule, they were 
characterized by vagueness. 

On the 29th of April a decree prolonging the extra 
session of the General Assembly to the 19th of May was 
read in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies. In 
the latter branch some inquiries were made, apparently 
to embarrass the ministry. Then, on the taking up of 
the report in the contested election case for the second 
district of Rio Grande do IsTorte, a very disorderly scene 
ensued, and the presiding officer suspended the session for 
fifteen minutes. It was reported that one member had 
assaulted another member. There was some jeering and 
hissing in the galleries, and subsequently one or two mem- 
bers were jostled by a crowd in the street, but no one 
received any bodily injury. However, the disorder was 
made the ground of complaint the next day by certain 
senators, who imputed to the ministry an inability to main- 
tain public order. In the Senate a strong attack on the 
Government was made by Senator Brandao, of Pernam- 
buco, who moved for information as to what steps had 
been taken to guarantee the independence of the Chamber 
of Deputies and public order. His speech, which was 
frequently interrupted, was replied to, in the absence, from 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 



325 



sickness, of the prime minister, by Senator de Sa, Minis- 
ter of the Empire, who denied any responsibility of the 
Government in the matter, and said there had been no 
disturbance of the peace. He called attention to the fact 
that the disorderly persons had been spectators in the 
Chamber, where they could only enter by cards, and that 
these cards were furnished by the officers of the Chamber. 
He explained how the Government were the chief suffer- 
ers from the occurrence, and the injustice and absurdity 
of charging them with complicity in it. The minister 
was constantly interrupted by opposition senators, but 
seems to have retained his coolness under great provoca- 
tion. 

On the 2d of May Prime-Minister Dantas appeared in 
the Senate, and, being still unwell, made some remarks, 
seated in a chair, partly in reply to the inquiry of Senator 
Junqueira, as to whether the prolongation of the extra 
session had been made after consulting the Grand Council 
of State. He thanked the Conservative Senator de Souza 
for yielding him the floor, and said that, while his health 
was far from satisfactory, his sense of duty and what he 
had read in the papers about the previous session had 
brought him to the Senate. He repeated Senator de Sa's 
assertion that no blame could be placed on the Govern- 
ment as to the disorderly occurrences at the Chamber. 
He would stand or fall with his emancipation project. 

The opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, however^ 
seized the opportunity to renew its attack on the ministry ; 
and, on Monday, the 4th of May, Mr. Antonio de Siquei- 
ra, of Pernambuco, moved that " the Chamber of Depu- 
ties, convinced that the ministry is unable to guarantee 
the public order and security, which are indispensable for 

the solution of the slavery question, refuses to it its con- 
23 



326 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



fidence," which was carried by a vote of fifty-two to fifty. 
Immediately after this the Cabinet ministers, driving, as 
usual, each in a close carriage with two mounted guards, 
held a meeting at the office of the Minister of Agriculture, 
and then the prime minister, Senator Dantas, started for 
Petropolis to confer with the Emperor. At six o'clock 
a large anti-slavery mass-meeting was held in the Lapa 
Square, which, after listening to some address, went in an 
orderly manner to the Eua Ouvidor and cheered in front 
of the offices of four prominent newspapers which sup- 
ported the Government plan of emancipation. The 
" Paiz " newspaper the next morning said : " It rests now 
with the Crown to pronounce upon the new conflict which 
has arisen between the ministry and the accidental major- 
ity. Public order never has been so assured as now, as 
can easily be understood, seeing that the people are in 
favor of the Government and of its political programme." 

On the 5th of May the Emperor came down from his 
summer residence to Kio with Senator Dantas, and the 
same day at the palace consulted with some of the leading 
statesmen, and, first of all, with Senator Saraiva. The 
result was that Mr. Saraiva accepted the invitation of his 
Majesty to form a new ministry, which was organized the 
6th of May. 

The emancipation project of the new ministry was 
presented in the Chamber of Deputies May 11th, the dis- 
tinctive features of which consisted in a large increase of 
the emancipation fund, namely, two and a half million 
dollars annually by a Government five per cent loan, the 
interest on which is to be paid by a five per cent additional 
tax on imports ; the payment to masters of two hundred 
milreis — say, eighty dollars — for each slave aged sixty 
years, four hundred milreis for slaves aged fifty years, six 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION". 327 



inmdred for those aged forty years, eight hundred for 
those aged thirty years, and one thousand milreis for those 
under twenty years of age. Slaves upward of sixty-five 
are declared free, without pay to the master. All f reed- 
men over sixty years of age to remain with their masters, 
who must feed, clothe, and care for them in sickness, 
availing of their services, provided the orphans' court 
does not decide that the said f reedmen can earn their own 
living. Slaves between sixty and sixty-five will be obliged 
to work for three years. A new registry of slaves to be 
made, but not including those over sixty. The master 
"will pay a fee of one milreis for the registry of each slave, 
and those not registered within the time fixed will be con- 
sidered free. 

The prime minister, Mr. Saraiva, made some remarks 
on the subject in the Senate on May 23d. It was his 
conviction that no country could transform slave into free 
labor without an outlay by the state. If labor could be 
reorganized on ten, fifty, sixty, or eighty plantations, the 
slavery question was finished. The project was a large 
expansion of the original law. From the time he had 
first considered the question he had said that such a project 
must be formulated as would need no future improve- 
ments ; hence, his opposition to the former project, which 
was not definite, and he believed the present would finally 
settle the question. Again, on June 1st, in the Chamber 
of Deputies, he said that if it was objected that the project 
did not propose a pecuniary indenmification for slaves of 
sixty-five years, it must be remembered that many plant- 
ers would prefer to employ these old slaves as teachers of 
the younger ones, rather than receive one or two hun- 
dred milreis for them. He thought that a fixed period 
was the worst means that could be employed, and it was 



328 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



for the purpose of defeating anarchical and revolutionary 
principles that the Grovernrnent organized the project as 
it was. The project did not limit itself to freeing the 
slave ; it had a more serious aim, that of the transforma- 
tion of labor ; and, unless the planters are furnished with 
the necessary means, there could be no transformation of 
labor. With an annual discount of six per cent on the 
value of the slave, and two per cent death-rate, he esti- 
mated that in ten years slavery would be extinct. 

The project, after considerable discussion and some 
amendments, was passed in the Chamber of Deputies, on 
August 13th, by a small majority, due in part to Con- 
servative votes ; and the following day the Saraiva Cabi- 
net resigned, and the Emperor, after consulting the Presi- 
dents of the Senate and Chamber, decided, on August 
19th, to call on the Conservatives to form a Government. 
Their leader, Senator Baron de Cotegipe, promptly un- 
dertook the task, as premier, accepting for himself the 
portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs. His Cabinet 
supported the Saraiva project, and it passed the Senate 
and became a law on September 28, 1885. 

On June 1, 1886, ex-Premier Dantas treated the Sen- 
ate to a surprise by introducing, in behalf of himself and 
nine others, a bill for the unconditional abolition of slavery 
at the expiration of five years from its adoption. It was 
referred to a special committee, which was elected by the < 
Senate on the following day, and composed of strongly j 
pro-slavery men, among whom were Wunes Gongalves and 1 
Martinho Campos. In five days the committee made an 
adverse report, declining to consider emancipation as an 
abstract question, but rejecting the project for its lack of 
opportuneness and its effects on high social interests. In 
their view the Saraiva-Cotegipe law was satisfying the I 



SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION. 



329 



aspirations of the country. According to the official re- 
port for 1886, the whole number of slaves liberated by the 
emancipation fund since 1871 was 24,165, at an average 
price of $288 for each slave — being less than 2,000 liber- 
ations per year. According to official returns, the number 
of slaves in the empire on June 30, 1885, was 1,133,228 ; 
and it is likely that Americans will drink coffee pro- 
duced by slave-labor for at least a quarter of a century 
longer. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

The fact that the Pope sided with Spain against the 
crown of Portugal over two centuries ago, probably has 
made the Catholics of the latter country and of Brazil 
more national and less Romish, in church matters, than 
have been the Catholics of some other countries. The 
Jesuits, who had been especially active and useful in civil- 
izing the Indians in Brazil, were expelled from the coun- 
try a century and a quarter ago for having influenced the 
Indians to revolt against the Government. 

In its proceedings against the monasteries Brazil has 
been slower than either Italy, Portugal, or Spain. It is 
only lately that it began to put in force a law for grad- 
ually winding up the monastic institutions. No new 
members can be received into these orders, but existing 
members remain unmolested. A commission under the 
Government was appointed to ascertain and appraise the 
revenue - yielding property of the different monasteries, 
which is understood to be large ; this property was to be 
sold and its proceeds invested in interest-bearing securi- 
ties, and out of it the surviving members of the orders 
were to be supported during life, after which the funds 
would revert to the national treasury. This action by the 



THE EELIGIOUS OKDERS. 



331 



legislative and executive power of the state has been 
hotly denounced by the Catholic clergy and some of their 
political friends as confiscation and robbery. Sermons 
have been preached, and voluminous articles published in 
the newspapers, denunciatory alike of the Emperor and 
Government for permitting the law to be carried into 
execution. The result has been that the law seems to be 
rather at a standstill. 

The Franciscan Convent on Sao Antonio Hill is an an- 
tique massive pile, which from its long stretch of steps 
reminds one of the old Eoman Capitol. The visit which 
I made to it was on one of the festival-days of the order. 
I was ushered into the reception-room of the provincial, 
or chief of the convent, where, besides three or four gen- 
tlemen, who appeared to be making a social visit, were 
two rather distinguished - looking men dressed in long 
black robes tied about them with a white cord, and whom 
I naturally took to be the higher officials of the order. 
The one of these, who took the leading part in the con- 
versation, and who impressed me at once by his dignified 
manner, his deep fine voice, and fluent speech as an ideal 
abbot, such as Sir Walter Scott describes, I supposed was 
the head of the convent. I felt a gratified astonishment 
in meeting such a character ; but I was destined to disap- 
pointment, for I learned later on that he was a Rio lawyer 
and politician. It was Dr. Antonio F. Vianna, a leading 
member of the Chamber of Deputies from Rio de Janeiro, 
distinguished as a debater, and who, as syndic or solicitor 
of the convent, was present on this occasion in the capacity 
of a lay member, wearing the regalia of the order. The 
conversation gradually led to the character of Brazilian 
monasteries, a subject on which I wished information 
from the monks themselves. Dr. Vianna launched out 



332 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION" AND PROSPECTS. 



into an eloquent historical review of the operations of the 
brotherhoods in Brazil, beginning over two centuries back, 
and touching their work in civilizing the Indians, in pro- 
moting education, in caring for the needy, and withal 
touching on the manner in which they had been oppressed. 
He dwelt with emphasis on the fact that there had never 
been religious persecution in Brazil. From him and Pro- 
vincial Costa I learned that this convent had become rich ; 
that some property was originally granted to it by the Gov- 
ernment ; that about fifty thousand dollars in money had 
been annually expended by it in recent times for the poor ; 
that there are many thousand lay members of the order, and 
that a large hospital for their benefit is maintained by the 
convent ; that there are now only three monks belonging 
to this convent, and only about twenty monks in all the 
twelve convents of the Franciscan order in Brazil. When 
the convent was in full operation the ordinary duties of 
the brothers, who were all educated men, were to admin- 
ister the sacrament to the dying, solicit alms, and visit the 
sick and poor. " When the convents took charge of the 
poor," said Dr. Yianna, " we had no beggars among us." 
u Where did the brothers take their exercise and recre- 
ation % " " Out here on the mountain " — pointing to the 
adjacent Sao Antonio Hill. 

They took me to see the churches, of which there are 
two, having much ornamentation ; also the vestries, library, 
and other places of interest about the convent. The li- 
brary is in a separate and higher building than the others. 
There were a couple of thousand or more ponderous vol- 
umes in calf -gilt binding, the most of them being works 
of the church fathers in both Latin and Greek, in oppo- 
site columns on the same page ; and, though a hundred 
years old, the pages of several that I opened looked as 



THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 



333 



clear and fresh as if they had just come from the press. 
There did not appear to be a single modern book in all 
the collection, and the thought struck me that the library 
was symbolic of the convent as an institution failing to 
keep up with the times. 

In a niche of one of the churches there was pointed out 
to me the tomb of some of the royal princes who had been 
buried there in colonial days. As we were walking over 
the stone-slab pavement of one of the lower corridors 
opening on the interior court, I was told that underneath 
was the former burying-place of the brothers. The ves- 
tries are spacious rooms, w T ith marble floors, and contain 
many big drawers made of Brazil-wood in natural col- 
ors, in which are kept the priestly vestments. Some of 
these, very rich in gold embroidery, were taken out by 
Provincial De Costa and shown me. When the beautiful 
vase of solid gold, and other golden vessels used in cele- 
brating mass, were exhibited, one or two humorous remarks 
were dropped at the expense of those who in these days 
are trying to get hold of the convent's effects. 

I took leave of both these gentlemen, who had courte- 
ously spent an hour or two in showing me about the con- 
vent, and in explaining its history, very favorably im- 
pressed by their frank and manly character. 

The Benedictine Convent of Rio de Janeiro, founded 
in 1590, is situated in the busiest corner of the city, on a 
hill about a hundred feet high, close to and overlooking 
the harbor. The street, on which are the Post-Office and 
new Merchants' Exchange, abuts on this hill, and it is from 
that street that the convent is entered. The approach 
up to it is over a solid and ancient-looking way, partly of 
steps cut from long and whole blocks of granite, and is 
partially shaded by the green foliage of trees through 



334: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



which, as I passed under them, shone the afternoon sun 
of a perfect summer day. 

The building is in the form of a square with an ample 
stone paved interior court. The church occupies one 
whole side. The upper story of another side is occupied 
by the large school which the convent sustains. The cor- 
ridors are long and of good width and paved with stone. 
At two corners are tile-paved reception-rooms, hung with 
several portraits, and having windows which overlook the 
island-studded bay. Immediately below the convent on 
the north side are the Government's iron ship-yard and 
machine-shops, the noise from which would be almost 
sufficient to abolish the convent without other proceed- 
ing. The establishment of these works so near the con- 
vent was literally a flank movement against it. 

My visit to the abbot of the Benedictine Convent of 
Rio de Janeiro, the Rev. Manoel de Santa Catharina 
Furtado, took place at his private parlor in the convent 
on Saturday, the 11th of October. I sent in my card, and, 
although my visit was unexpected, I was soon admitted 
and received by him in a cordial manner. The abbot is 
a man, I should say, about forty-five years of age, a little 
over five feet in height, inclined to be fat, complexion, 
hair, and eyes dark, an open, intelligent countenance, and 
animated manner. He wore a long tunic, cape, and scap- 
ulary of black serge, also a standing collar, but no cover 
on his head. At his request I took a seat on the cane- 
seat sofa, he sitting in one of the arm cane-seat chairs, of 
which two rows were ranged perpendicular to the sofa. 
Though in a very old building the room was modern and 
furnished like almost any tidy Rio parlor. On a marble- 
topped center-table and on some cabinets were several 
branched candlesticks with figured glasses to surround the 



THE KELIGIOUS ORDERS. 



335 



candles, and one or two stands of artificial flwers. There 
was a rug in front of the sofa. The floor was made of nar- 
row cedar boards neatly finished in natural color. Two 
windows in the room afforded an extensive view of the 
port and shipping. After some casual remarks, I said, 
" It has been the fashion in late years for writers of books 
in the English language on Brazil to speak unfavorably 
of Catholic priests and monks." 

" That," said he, " was because they did not take the 
trouble to come and see us and learn the truth about us. 
Tou should have seen," he continued, "the crowds of 
people who came up here, with tears running down their 
cheeks, at $ie time the Government had in view the ap- 
propriation of the convent's property, and who were 
afraid they would be deprived of the donations they had 
been accustomed regularly to receive. The Government 
finally arranged that these charitable contributions might 
be continued, and the convent now pays out monthly in 
charity sums varying from two to twenty-five milreis 
(one to ten dollars) to over a hundred people, say in all 
seven hundred dollars a month." The abbot stepped to 
his adjoining bedchamber and produced a large blank- 
book wherein he showed me a list of one hundred and 
twenty-three names of citizens — which, of course, I did 
not think it my place to read — with the monthly allow- 
ance set opposite each name. The convent also expends, 
as he informed me, eight thousand dollars annually in 
maintaining a free primary and secondary school for boys, 
in the latter of which they can fit for the higher scientific 
and professional schools. This school was established in 
1858, by a brother of Mr. Sariva, the Liberal statesman, 
and now has an average attendance of about four hundred 
pupils. He cited the fact that the convent had produced 



336 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



some men of acknowledged learning and usefulness, nam- 
ing as one of them the brother or friar who was the in- 
structor of the Imperial Princess — the exemplary wife 
and mother who is now next in succession to the throne. 
Another was the Professor of Philosophy in the College 
of Dom Pedro II. 

In the course of his rapid observations he cited other 
facts that would tend to reflect credit on the brotherhood, 
but which I do not recall. Naturally the maintaining 
of regular public worship in the church of the convent 
would be an important claim to consideration. 

" The income from the property of the convent," said 
the abbot, "is three hundred contos (one hundred and 
twelve thousand dollars) annually ; but the Government 
levies a tax on this of twenty-two per cent. The income 
of the convent in 1850 was only twenty-five thousand 
dollars." 

"When the convent was in a flourishing condition, 
what were the rules for admission to membership?" I 
asked. 

" In former times candidates were admitted not young- 
er than the age of fifteen years, and had a trial of half a 
year, during which they did not leave the convent. At 
the end of that time they could make their profession to 
become one of the brotherhood or they could leave. This 
was changed in 1856 so they were admitted at fifteen 
years of age and upward, and then had a year's trial, dur- 
ing which they remained constantly at the convent, at the 
end of which time they could make their profession, or 
they could go on and finish the regular six years 5 course of 
study required in all cases, and, when ready to be or- 
dained, they could make the solemn declaration to become 
a member, or they could simply become a priest and leave 



THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 



337 



the order entirely. The course of study is about the same 
as at Catholic theological seminaries. Though candidates 
were usually admitted while young, the convent once re- 
ceived a man at the age of forty because he was distin- 
guished. He was a Frenchman, and favored by the Em- 
peror, who appointed him librarian. No pecuniary quali- 
fications were required of any candidate, but it was neces- 
sary he should be of a thoroughly respectable family. 
Practically the question of color was undoubtedly re- 
garded, as none of African descent have been admitted. 
No one could be admitted without a knowledge of French, 
Latin, geography, and history ; he must have had about 
the same literary training required for admission to a 
theological seminary." 

" "What were the duties of the monks and the disci- 
pline they were subjected to I Could they go into soci- 
ety ? Could they dine out ? " 

" There was no regulation to prevent their going into 
society or dining out. They could not, however, lodge 
out of the convent, but were required to be present every 
evening at eight o'clock. After completing the six years' 
course of study required at every convent, a brother, if 
twenty-three years of age, but not younger, could be or- 
dained and exercise the office of priest. Till they had 
finished their studies their duties and discipline were those 
of students ; afterward, as priests, to conduct divine wor- 
ship, preach, teach, and care for the poor — in fact, to do 
any service a priest could do. If a brother could not 
preach, he could, perhaps, sing and assist in public wor- 
ship. Formerly the convent owned plantations, and a 
brother would be detailed to have charge. Thirteen years 
ago it freed about a thousand slaves, and gave some land 
to well-behaved slaves. The collection of rents is through 
29 



338 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



secular agents or attorneys. The convent has enjoyed a 
large annual revenue." 

" Who controlled the spending of the money? " 

" The abbot. He is responsible for the expenditure 
of the money. It is for him to determine the current 
expenses. He gives a written report of the money he has 
expended every three years. On any very important 
matter he receives the advice of a council of the order. 

" Our order," continued the abbot, " is quite a repub- 
lic. It obtained independence from Leo XII (Pope, 
1823-29), since which we have our congregation in our 
own country, and change our ruler or general every three 
years. There are now ten Benedictine Convents in good 
order in Brazil. The principal one is at Bahia, where the 
general resides, but this is the richest one. In 1850 there 
were, perhaps, seventy-five brothers of the Benedictine 
Order in Brazil ; now there are only twenty-five, of whom 
about twelve are here. Six have died in the last three 
years." 

" I understand that, owing to the spirit of legislation 
in recent years, a stop has practically been put to any in- 
crease in the number of monks, but I suppose they will 
be allowed to spend the rest of their days quietly in the 
convents where they now dw ell ? " 

" We do not know," said the abbot. " We live in ap- 
prehension. In defending their interests during the late 
controversy with the Government, two orders paid sixty- 
six contos (twenty-six thousand dollars) to journals and 
lawyers." 

In answering some further inquiries of mine relative 
to the dress of the brothers, the abbot explained the mat- 
ter in a friendly and off-hand manner. He let me exam- 
ine the cloth of which his tunic was made, and which he 



THE KELIGIOUS ORDERS. 



339 



said is called serge. The pleated slip worn over this, and 
extending down over the stomach, is called the scapulary. 
He went into his adjoining bedchamber and brought out 
his black gown, which he put on. It was a loose black 
robe of serge, with train, and he told me it was such as 
he or any brother wore when preaching, and that they 
were also buried in it. He put on his gold cross and 
chain ; also bent down his head to show me how those of 
his order had their heads shaved. The part shaved is in 
form of a ring, an inch or more wide on the top of the 
head, leaving some hair in the center. 

At the conclusion of our talk I expressed to the abbot 
my sincere thanks for the kind manner in which he had 
given me so much information. As I was coming away, 
he took me into the choir of the church and pointed out 
several things of interest. He also invited me to visit the 
church on some Sunday, and I promised to do so. 

" Do not come, however," said he, "next Sunday, for 
I shall be absent. 55 

I shook hands with him very heartily, and, as I de- 
scended the old stone stairs, I thought of the time when 
Brother Martin Luther himself was a monk, and that, 
while monasteries seem now out of date, probably the 
brothers are somewhat better than in the time of Luther, 
when every monk had " two cans of beer and a quart of 
wine for supper, with gingerbread, to make him take to 
his liquor kindly. 55 

The academical course of study which a theological 
student takes in Brazil before he can be ordained as a 
priest of the Catholic Church occupies twelve years. 
When he has finished this course, he has generally reached 
the age of twenty-four years. He can not, anyhow, be 
ordained or consecrated as a priest till he has attained that 



340 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



age. Having graduated at a -seminary, and being of the 
proper age, he can be consecrated as a priest without any 
other examination. As soon as he becomes ordained, he 
is immediately assigned by the bishop as an ordinary or 
assistant in some parish ; and, after serving in that capaci- 
ty four or five years, he can be assigned to duty as a full 
priest in charge of a parish. The bishop, however, in no 
case appoints for a longer term than one year. At the 
end of the year every priest must ask for re-examination, 
and to have his mission renewed. The salary which the 
Government pays each priest is four hundred milreis — 
say one hundred and sixty dollars — a year. The parish 
he serves makes up the balance, according to its means 
and disposition. Some parishes pay about one thousand 
dollars; others pay less. In addition to his salary, the 
priest receives some remuneration for such services as the 
celebration of marriages and the like. There is no fixed 
fee for performing the rite of baptism or of marriage, but 
parties requiring either service give according to their 
will and ability — for a baptism usually about two dollars, 
and for a marriage five to ten dollars. For performing 
mass there is a fixed fee of two milreis — say eighty cents 
— but probably more is voluntarily paid, as a rule. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



PUBLIC LANDS AKD IMMIGRATION. 

The only wild lands that are surveyed, and that are 
practically open to settlement, are those which have been 
set apart for colonies in the provinces of Espirito Santo, 
Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catharina, and Rio Grande do 
Sul. The areas surveyed in each of these provinces do 
not much exceed the size of an ordinary county in the 
United States. Such new land, adapted, we will say, for 
coffee-growing, and situated in the province of Espirito 
Santo, twenty-four hours by steamship from the port of 
Eio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of German and Ital- 
ian colonies, can be bought of the Government in tracts 
of one hundred and twenty-five acres at three hundred 
dollars, being at the rate of two dollars and forty cents per 
acre. Payment may be made, if desired, in five annual 
payments. The laud has an elevation of two thousand 
feet above the sea, is hilly, and covered with woods. A 
good part of the local transportation would be on mule- 
back or by boat. Though the manner of life is attended 
with the usual drawbacks of new settlements, the colonies, 
as a rule, enjoy good health, and are prospering finan- 
cially. 

There are extensive areas in the far interior which, on 
the maps, purport to be occupied by Indian tribes, and 



342 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



which in most cases it is safe to conclude are not private 
lands. During three centuries the Crown has been mak- 
ing grants of land to various parties, the records of which 
do not appear to exist in any accessible form, if they exist 
at all. A man might expend weeks in exploring the wild 
lands, and, if he should then find a tract he wished to pur- 
chase, he would not be sure of a clear title. If he resolved 
to run his risk and buy of the Government, his first pro- 
ceeding would be to formally request, in writing, the 
president of the province in which the land was situated 
to cause the tract to be surveyed. The president of the 
province would designate a surveyor to make the survey 
and report upon the land, after which the Government 
would fix the price and conditions for its sale. If a sale 
should be effected, the purchaser would take the land 
subject to the claims of other individuals, which, if any 
were preferred, would, unless amicably adjusted, have to 
be determined by expensive and dilatory proceedings be- 
fore a judicial tribunal. 

The wealth and future greatness of Brazil lie in the 
fertility of her soil. Admitting that much the greater 
part of her territory is waste land, yet the area that is 
susceptible of cultivation is immense, forming a resource 
which deserves to be husbanded in the wisest manner ; 
but it will never attract enterprise till there is more cer- 
tainty about titles. Even if a commencement of the work 
should be made to-day, the titles would not all be cleared 
up in fifty years. It is all the more important, therefore, 
that a beginning should soon be made. There should be 
established in each province a competent commission to 
settle land-titles, the whole acting under a central or gen- 
eral land-office. A great part of the uncultivated land is 
held, not by the state, but by individuals, and in tracts 



PUBLIC LANDS AND IMMIGRATION. 343 



large enough often to make good-sized counties. It is not 
taxed ; and, having been obtained at a small price, the 
proprietors hold on to it year after year for speculation, 
or to gratify their vanity. 

The Brazilians do not appear to realize that it is neces- 
sary to offer ownership of land as an inducement to immi- 
grants. In this, I think, they are greatly in error. There 
is nothing in Europe that is so much prized as land. To 
own there even a few acres, and especially a hundred 
acres or more, carries with itself a certain dignity and 
social rank. 

Up to this hour the Brazilian planters seem to expect 
to get European and island laborers by contract, to work 
on shares or for wages, and to live like tenants or laborers, 
without the expectation of an acre in their own right. 
This seems the more surprising in view of the expected 
labor crisis arising from the gradual extinction of slavery. 

Official returns of the arrival of third-class passengers 
— the most of whom were assumed to have been immi- 
grants — at the port of Rio de Janeiro, show the number 
to have been 25,845 in 1882, 26,789 in 1883, 17,999 in 
1884, and 22,727 in 1885. A great majority of the im- 
migrants are habitually from Portugal and Italy. 

A scheme was projected in 1884 for introducing Chi- 
nese laborers for contract work on plantations, but it met 
with signal failure. A committee of Chinese subjects 
visited Brazil to see for themselves how the plan would 
work, but decidod and reported against it for its lack of 
the element of freedom. They could not, they said, be a 
party to anything but free immigration. In recent years 
the Eiver Plate countries have been receiving a much 
larger share of immigrants than Brazil. For example, 
while from 1857 to 1862 Brazil received 92,467 immi- 



314: BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PEOSPEOTS. 



grants and the Argentine Republic 33,020, the situation 
was altered in the period from 1878 to 1882, during which 
the Argentine Republic received 176,385, and Brazil only 
92,620. And yet, it is said, that during the five years of 
1874 to 1879 the state expended the immense sum of 
$13,000,000 to promote immigration and support immi- 
grants. 

On the interior highlands, especially in the more south- 
ern provinces, where the climate is salubrious, agriculture 
can be followed with profit and pleasure ; and it only re- 
quires the adoption of proper measures to secure for Bra- 
zil a very great increase of her immigration. The Gov- 
ernment appears to desire immigration. It has at Rio de 
Janeiro a Bureau of Colonization and of Immigration, with 
a director-general, assisted by several clerks. It has pub- 
lished documents, accompanied with fine maps, in respect 
of as many as five different provinces, with descriptions 
of their geography and resources, in the Portuguese, 
French, German, and Italian languages. Individuals, and 
especially large parties, wishing to emigrate to Brazil 
would do well to address themselves to that office ; but 
the ground ought to be looked over in person or by a 
competent and reliable agent, before fully deciding to 
emigrate. While a family alone, or even a group of fami- 
lies, with slender means, would probably find themselves 
struggling with unexpected difficulties and discourage- 
ments, a considerable colony would, on the other hand, if 
well organized and prepared, and fully resolved on a per- 
manent settlement, probably meet with success. It may 
be taken for granted that the Brazilian Government would 
live up to its engagements with a colony or party of im- 
migrants ; and, to show its liberality, I may mention that, 
though the state church is Catholic, the Government has 



PUBLIC LANDS AND IMMIGRATION. 345 



sometimes aided in the building of religions meeting- 
houses for Protestaut German colonies. As the ministries 
are frequently changed, however, to meet the shifting 
majorities of the legislature, it is of the most absolute im- 
portance that any set of immigrants or colonists who 
purpose coming to Brazil, on any understanding with the 
Government, should have their contract most explicitly 
written, and signed by the proper officer before they start, 
or make any sacrifice with a view to starting. Since the 
beginning of the civil war probably three thousand Ameri- 
cans emigrated from the Southern States to Brazil, of 
whom many were experienced agriculturists, and possessed 
means ; but four fifths of them have returned to the United 
States, and many others look forward to doiug the same. 
"Why ? 'Not because Brazil is a bad country, but because 
they prefer the United States. 



IND 



EX. 



Abbots, conversations witb, 331-339. 
Aberdeen, Lord, quoted on the slave- 
trade, 309. 
Abreu, Casimiro Jose, 234. 
Academical course in theology, 339. 
Administration, local, 185-193. 

national, 194-215, 345. 
Agassiz, Mrs., opinion of climate, 
112. 

tour of Prof, and Mrs., in Amazon 

Valley, 276-28S. 
Agriculture, 241-261, 344. 
Albuquerque, Deputy, 208. 
Alencar, J. M., 217. 
Alligator-hunt, 270. 
Alves, A. C, 235. 
Amazon, valley of, 262-293. 

explorations in, by Prof. Agassiz, 

276. 

Americans should know races on 

their own continent, 3. 
settled in Brazil, 159-162 ; 267, 

2S8-292. 
Amusements. See Diversions. 
Anaconda mentioned, 64, 302. 
Andrade, Sr., hospitality of, 68-73. 
Anecdotes of beasts of prey, 295- 

307. 

Apples, importation of, 261. 



Architecture of Rio, 24-26. 
Army, 214. 

Assis, Machado de, 236. 
Authors, Brazilian, 217-236. 
A vila, Senator, on climate, 113. 

Balance of trade, 124. 
Ball in the interior, 73. 

at Manaos, 280. 
Barbacena visited, 126. 
Barbara, S., American settlers at, 
159. 

Barker, Mr., mentioned, 145. 

Bates, Mr., quoted, 300. 

Beasts of prey, 294-307. 

Beers, Captain, remarks on the trip 

to Brazil, 11. 
Begging in the street, 43. 
Bigg- Wither, Mr., quoted, 68, 303. 
Birds, numerous varieties in Amazon 

Valley, 275. 
Bismarck, steamship, voyage on, 10. 
Blind Asylum, 48. 
Boa, the, 302. 

Books, few which girls can read, 67. 
Brandao, Senator, 324. 
Brazil, situation, resources, and cli- 
mate, 93-115. 
chief products of, 101. 



INDEX. 



Brazil, relations of, with the United 
States, 116-125. 
an agricultural country, 241. 
Brazilians, traits of, 85, 40. 

sentiments toward the United 
States, 117. 
Brazil-nuts, 292. 

British sentiment on slavery, 308, 
321. 

Buckle, his remarks on Brazil, 94. 
Buildings, style of, at Rio, 25. 
Burdens, borne on the head, 36. 
Burton, Captain, quoted, 76, 99. 
Butterflies, 88. 

Cabinets, changes in, 199. 
Caldas, S., 225. 
Campinas, noticed, 162, 163. 
Campo, 96. 

Canary Islands, call at, 8. 

Cane, the crop, 249. 

Cantos of Dias, 232. 

Capital required in the Amazon 

Valley, 293. 
Caramuru, poem, 228. 
Carlos, Antonio, 224. 
Carlos, F. de Sao, 225. 
Carnival described, 41. 
Carson's Hotel, noticed, 14. 
Carvalho, Leoncio de, 172. 
Casa dos Expostos, 43. 
Casino hall, 43. 
Catharina, Santa, 77. 
Catholic religion, 54. 
Cattle, breed of, 158, 257. 
Celso, Senator, 207. 
Chamberlain, Rev., mentioned, 147, 

163. 

Children, respect for parents, 55. 
Chinese labor, 343. 
Christie, Mr., quoted, 308. 



Churches, 52, 53. 
Climate, 109-115, 131. 
Cobden, Richard, 3. 
Coffee, cheapness of its transporta- 
tion, 119. 

cultivation of, 242-248. 

plantations, beauty of, 134. 

produced by slave-labor, 329. 
Collegio Piracicabano, visited, 166. 
Colonia Thereza, 68, 78. 
Colonies, German and other, 77. 
Colonization, Bureau of, 344. 
Commerce, 102, 121. 
Communication between the United 

States and Brazil, 120. 
Comsett, Consul, quoted, 77. 
Consular office, location at Rio, 4. 
Consumption, prevalence of, 51. 
Convents, Benedictine and Francis- 
can, visited, 331-339. 
Corcovado Mountain, view from, 23. 
Corn, Indian, its cultivation, 248. 
Corpus Christi, 55. 
Correa, R., 236. 
Correia, Senator, 206. 
Costa, de, Provincial, 332. 
Cotigipe, Senator, 196. 
Cotton, production of, 251. 
Count d'Eu, mentioned, 172. 
Country life, 153-162. 
Cross, Dr. J., mentioned, 144. 
Curitiba, sketch of, 67. 

Dantas, Senator, 197. 

his bill for unconditional abolition, 
321. 

speech he did not make, 321. 
Death the real emancipator, 321. 
Debates in legislative bodies, 194. 
Debt, public, 103. 
Dentists, 59. 



INDEX. 



349 



Deputies, Chamber of, 194-213. 

D'Eu, Count, 172, 215. 

Dias, Goncalves, sketch of, 230. 

Diplomatic and consular officers, 
what they can do, 124, 125. 

Diversions, 41, 65, 255. 

Dom Pedro II, sketch of, 82-S6. 

Drainage of Rio by the English com- 
pany, 29. 

Driveways for pleasure, lack of, 31. 

Durao, Rita, 228. 

Dutch, the, in Brazil, 249. 

Earnings of the slave, 322. 
Earthenware, 20. 

Earthquakes, need of, in Amazon 

Valley, 276. 
Education, system of, 171-184. 
Elevation of the country, 93. 
Emancipation, progress of, 310-329. 
Emperor of Brazil, notice of, 82-88. 
favors emancipation, 310. 
his part in politics, 200-211. 
England helps expel the Dutch from 

Brazil, 249. 
Exports, 102. 

Facchenetti, Prof., 296. 
Falls of Paulo Affonso, 99. 
Famine in Ceara, 65. 
Finances, 103, 105. 
Fish, kinds in Rio market, 18. 
Floresta, 88. 

Forests, conversion of, into fields, 
274. 

Foundling Hospital, 43-47. 

France helps expel the Dutch from 

Brazil, 249. 
Francisco, Sao, Valley, 98, 99. 
Fruit-culture, 258-261. 
Furniture in Rio houses, 16. 
£0 



Furtardo, the abbot, 334. 

Garvca, Mount, 91. 
Gate-pillars of sculptured granite, 27. 
German colonists, 79, 345. 
Government, local, 185-193. 

national or parliamentary, 194- 
215. 

Guarany, Alencar's, 220. 
Guimaraes, B., 217, 221. 
Guimaracs, L., Jr., 236. 

Habits of the people, 33, 38, 55. 

Hammock, use of, 282. 

Hammond, W. J., observations of, 

96, 97. 
Harbor of Rio, 126. 
Hay, the crop, 251. 
Hayes, Mrs. J., 53. 
Highlands of the Amazon, 292. 

interior, 344. 
Historians, 227. 
Hoe, use of, 241. 

Horseback-rides, delightful, at Ti- 
juca, 88. 

Housekeeping, beginning, at Rio, 15- 
21. 

Houses at Rio, 15. 
Houston, Mr., missionary, 53. 
Humor, 56, 60, 195, 238. 
Hunting-park of the Emperor, 23. 

Ibicaba, visit to plantation of, 150- 
158. 

Immigrants, 79, 288, 341-345. 
Immigration, 341-345. 
Imports, 102. 

Indians, Tupay, bravery of, 148. 
as crews, 264. 
graceful forms of, 274. 
tidiness, 283. 



350 



INDEX. 



Industries, 122 (see Agriculture, 

etc.). 
Inheritance, 62. 
Instruction, public, 17 1-1 84. 
Interior, life in the, 68-77, 79. 

a trip into, 125. 
Iracema, poem of, 218-220. 
Ivahy, valley of, 68. 

Jaguar, the Brazilian, 294-299. 
Jaguaribe, Senator, 318. 
Journalists, distinguished, 227. 
Judges, want of independence, 316. 

Kennedy, Rev. J. L., 53. 
Roger, Rev. J. W., 169. 
Kyle, Rev., 53. 

Labor, free, wages of, 19, 145, 254. 

severe, of slaves, 315. 

transformation of slave, iato free, 
327, 313. 
Laboring class, 38-40. 
Ladies, Brazilian, 33, 34. 
Lafayette, Senator, 198. 
Land, abundance of, 64. 

character of, between Santos and 
Sao Paulo, 141. 

price of, 250. 

public, 341-345. 

how obtained, 342. 
Lane, Rev., 164. 
Legal profession, 58. 
Liberty of the press, 237. 
Library of mechanics, 145. 
Lidgerwood, Mr., his service to Bra- 
zil, 246. 
Life, in cities, 22-43 

in the country, 64, 66, 79. 

in the Amazon Valley, 265-293. 
Lisbon, embarkation at, 7. 



Lisbon, voyage from, to Rio, 9. 
Literature, Brazilian, 216-240. 
Local administration, 185-193. 
Lotteries, 37. 
Lyceu de Artcs, 183. 

Macedo, J. M., 217, 222. 
Magelhaes, General, 142. 
Magelhaes, D, J. G., 233. 
Mandioca, production of, 253. 
Manners of the people, 41, 52-81. 
Manufactures, 122, 168. 
Marcy, W. L., quoted, 124. 
Marriage, celebration of, 61, 62, 67. 
Martins, Senator, quoted, 114, 195. 
Matto-Grosso, 80, 95. 
Medical schools, 60. 
Mines, 102. 

Ministers, Cabinet, 200. 

frequently chauged, 345. 
Misericordia Hospital, visit to, 47. 
Missionaries, Protestant, 53. 
Moema episode, 230. 
Monasteries, 330-339. 
Money of Brazil, 19, 103. 
Monks, 330-339. 
Monte-Alverne, 225. 
Morals in the Amazon Valley, 266. 
Moreninha, Macedo's novel, 223. 
Motta, Da, Senator, 318. 

Navigation of the Amazon, 262-265. 
Newspapers, 237. 

Novel, the, not of high moral tone, 67. 
Nut-pickers, 292. 

Oliveira, Alberto, 236. 
Onca, anecdotes of, 294-299. 
Oranges, 258-261. 

Oratory in legislative bodies, 195- 



INDEX. 



351 



Oratory in the pulpit, 225, 226. 
Osborn, T. A., mentioned, 84. 
Ottoni, Senator, 208. 
his observations on slavery and 
emancipation, 313-320. 

Palm-trees, striking appearance of, 
26. 

Para, city of, 262, 268. 

Paraguay, cost of demonstration 

against, 125. 
Parana, province of, 68. 
Parks, 28, 87, 143. 
Parliamentary government, 194- 

215. 

Parties, political, 195-214. 
Pedra-Bonita, ascent of, 88. 
Pedro, Dom, II, 82-88. 
Penedo, Deputy, 320. 
Pensions, 215. 
Periodical literature, 236. 
Pernambuco, delightful climate of, 
111. 

Petropolis, mountain resort, 128-130. 
Physicians, 59. 
Piracicaba, notice of, 167. 
Plantations visited, 137-179. 
Poets, 226-236. 
Politics, 194-214. 
Portuguese element, 38. 

language, 216. 
Presbyterian church at Sao Paulo, 
147. 

Presidents of provinces, 187. 
Priests, Catholic, 54. 

academical course of, 339. 
Princess Imperial visits Sao Paulo, 
144. 

Protestant worship, 52, 79. 
Pulpit orators, 225. 
Punch, 238. 



Races, mixture of, 287. 
Railways, 30, 105, 106, 135. 
Ransom, Rev. J. J., 53. 
Reciprocity, 121. 

Relations of the United States with 

Brazil, 116. 
Religious liberty, 52, 67. 

orders, 3.30-339. 
Revenue, 103. 

Revolutions in South America, 3. 
Rice, the crop, 253. 
Rio de Janeiro, arrival at, 8. 
living at, 18. 

sketch of the city and its people, 
22-51. 

Rio Negro, explorations on, 273, 274. 

River Plate countries, 108. 

Roads, lack of, 64. 

Rodrigues, Deputy, 200. 

Rua do Ouvidor, frequented street, 

Rubber industry, 103, 293. 

Sailing-vessels, route of, from the 

United States to Brazil, 12. 
Sampaio, F., 225. 
Sao Paulo visited, 142-150. 
Saraiva, Senator, 198, 327. 
Scenery, mountain, 91. 
School, young ladies', 53. 
Schools, public, 171-184, 290. 
Seamen, treatment of sick, 50. 
Sea-View Cottage, 88. 
Senate, 196. 

Senators, several mentioned, 195-208. 

Serpents, 299-307. 

Servants, Portuguese, 19. 

Shalders, Mr., 217. 

Seminarista, story of, 221. 

Sinimbu, Senator, 197. 

Slavery and the slave-trade, 308-329. 



352 



INDEX. 



Slaves, appearance of plantation, 

155, 156. 
Smith, Dr. Herbert H., quoted, 288. 
Society, 223. 

in the Amazon Valley, 279, 286. 
Soil of Brazil, 94, 97. 
South America, impressions about, in 

the United States, 3. 
Southern, Mr. Henry, quoted, 309. 
Spirits, sale of, 40. 
Steamship Company, United States 

and Brazil Mail, stopping-places, 

12. 

Stewart, Dr. J. A., 51. 
Stock-raising, 99, 113, 256-258. 
Street railways and cars, 30. 
Subsistence, common, 253. 
Sugar, production of, 249. 
Sunday, observance of, 52, 67. 
Surface of Brazil, 93, 104, 241. 

Table of the planter, 154. 
Tarboux, Rev., 169. 
Taste, lack of, 64. 

Thallenhorst, Captain, mentioned, 7. 
Thought, that of Brazil, 35. 
Tijuca, mountain suburb, 87-92. 
Tobacco, production of, 254. 
Trade with Brazil, 102, 121-124. 
Transportation, rates of, 106, 119, 
146. 

Travel on the Amazon, 277. 
Trees, beautiful flowering, 27. 
Tymbiras, poem of, 232. 



United States, relations of, with Bra- 
zil, 116. 
trade of, with Brazil, 102. 
a peace-loving country, 323. 

Varella, F., 236. 

Venders, street, 37. 

Vergueiro, Sr., his colfee-plantation 

visited, 150-158. 
Vianna, Deputy, 195, 331. 
Voyage, New York to Rio, 7, 11-13. 

Lisbon to Rio, 8-10. 

Rio to Santos, 137. 

Wages of servants, 19. 
of mechanics, 145. 
agricultural, 254. 
Wallace, Alfred R., observations on 

the Amazon Valley, 266-276. 
Water-bottle, in common use, 20. 
Water-supply at Rio, 48. 
Watts, Miss, her school visited, 
166. 

Weights and measures, 19. 
Wheat formerly cultivated, 114. 
Wheel of Foundling Hospital, 43. 
Winter, 111. 

Women, seclusion of, 70-71. 

Yellow fever, first impressions about 
15. 

treatment, 50. 
could be exterminated, 112. 
Young, Rev. F., mentioned, 53. 



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Visit of President Lincoln to Richmond, and various other events of the war. 

Some of the admiral's experiences were certainly remarkable, and all are told 
with great gusto and spiiit. Nothing mere stirring and readable has been pro- 
duced in the literature of the war. 



NARRATIVE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS DIRECTED, 
DURING THE LATE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES, BY 
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, GENERAL C. S. A. Illustrated with 
Steel Plates and Maps. Svo. Cloth, $5.00; sheep, $6.00; half 
morocco, $7.50. 

PRESIDENTIAL, COUNTS. A Complete Official Record of the 
Proceedings of Congress at the Counting of the Electoral Yotes in 
all the Elections of President and Vice-President of the United 
States. Svo. Cloth, $3.50. 



New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & 00/8 PUBLICATIONS, 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NAVY DURING THE 
GREAT REBELLION, By Charles B. Boynton, D. D., 
Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, and Assist- 
ant Professor at the United States Naval Academy. Illustrated with 
ten full-page Woodcuts, Portraits on Steel of Distinguished Officers, 
and numerous Vignettes from Sketches made by Commander S. B. 
Woolsey, United States Navy, with numerous Maps and Charts from 
Government Surveys and Official Plans furnished for this work ex- 
clusively. 2 vols. 8vo. Half morocco, $10.00. 

The whole material for this work has been drawn from documents in posses- 
sion of the Navy Department, so that its narrative rests upon the highest possible 
authority. Dr. Boynton had free access to the navy-yards and ships, and to the 
Ordnance Department, while his connection with the Naval Academy and his 
residence in Washington grave him facilities for collecting materials for his 
history that left little or nothing to desire. 

ANECDOTES OF THE CIVIL WAR. By Major-General E. 
D. Townsekd. With Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 

HISTORY OF NEW YORK DURING THE REVOLU- 
TIONARY WAR, AND OF THE LEADING EVENTS IN 
THE OTHER COLONIES AT THAT PERIOD. By Thomas 
Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province. Edited by 
Edward Floyd de Lancy. With Notes, Contemporary Documents, 
Maps, and Portraits. In 2 vols. 8vo. Cloth, gilt top, $15.00. 

44 Certainly do one historical work has been issued in the United States during 
the last twenty years of equal importance with this, unless it be the ' Colonial 
History' and documentary History of the Colonies,' published by order and at 
the expense of the State. The publication of this history, so long and jealously 
withheld from the public, offers the unlooked-for chance of seeing the men of the 
Revolution through the eyes of a vigilant enemy, who knew them more or less 
exactly, not only as to their characters, but their private lives and family anteced- 
ents. It will cause more than one descendant of ancient and honorable families 
of New York to wince, and to wince all the more because they are in a poor 
plight to refute the statements of Judge Jones. It may be confidently said that 
there is no history of the Revolution extant which will not demand remodeling 
in consequence of the publication of this. Whether we like the book or not, the 
world is better for this able presentment of the other side of the question of our 
Revolution.''— New York Times. 

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. A Full and Complete 
History of the Mormons, from the First Vision of Joseph Smith to 
the Last Courtship of Brigham Young. By T. B. II. Stenhocse. 
Illustrated with Steel and Wood Engravings. 8vo. Cloth, $5.00 ; 
sheep, $6.00; half morocco, $7.50. 



New York: D. APPLETON k CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 

AD 3. a •* 1 m 



